


Skull and the No-Good, Very Bad Dates

by sylvanWhispers



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dom/sub Undertones, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Forced Relationship, Harmonization, M/M, Multi, Non-Sexual Submission, Pack Dynamics, Polyamory Negotiations, Possessive Behavior, Sexually Ambiguous Submission, Soul Bond, Soulmates, Unhealthy Relationships, it gets better but they uh aren't super good people you know, the reluctance is mutual tho because curse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-08-26 12:37:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16681756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylvanWhispers/pseuds/sylvanWhispers
Summary: Before the curse, Skull used to love going on dates. After the curse (and the high-maintenance mafioso lunatics he's been forcibly soul bound to), it's a very different story.





	1. Prologue: Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This prologue chapter is Yuni's perspective, but subsequent chapters will be Skull's.
> 
> Although the tag says poly, the emphasis is really on the intimacy of harmonization, which can't be described as exactly romantic, familial or platonic, but is something all its own.

Yuni learned from a young age to not be intimidated by responsibility.

“I think of it like motherhood,” her mother had once said, lovingly tracing the tattoo on her cheek. “Sometimes you need to be firm, or gentle. But always your priority is to take care of the family.”

Yuni's life was rife with foregone conclusions: Inherit the Giglio Nero. Bind the Arcobaleno. Outlive her mother. All of this was to be, and would be long before she could even call herself a woman.

She made her peace with it, over time stepping into her mother’s place with as much grace as a young girl could manage. It wasn’t so terrible, with Gamma there to act as her guide and interim leader, and with Byakuran and his Wreaths circling like protective hawks to warn off those who might mistake this transitory period as a moment of weakness. Her beloved Giglio Nero was, at the very least, secure.

But there was a greater task left. One that she could not turn to anyone else to fulfill. The Curse of the Rainbow may have been broken, but its fingerprints were still seared into all of those it had touched. 

Fortunately the age situation had not been as dire as initially feared - within the first month of the curse’s end the growth spurts began. As the Arcobaleno synchronized with their Sky, by the year’s end all but Lal would match Yuni at her own age to henceforth grow at her pace. It seemed unlikely that Lal herself would age at all until the rest of them caught up.

It was exciting, at first - growing up alongside her bondmates. Yuni couldn’t help but feel a thrill at that, the Sky inside her flaring with something bright and possessive. Her harmony, _her_ Arcobaleno. Connected to her in a way that was distinct and unique and final. 

However as the years trudged on, it became progressively clear to Yuni that despite generations of being together, the Arcobaleno were far from a perfect harmony. She could feel their bonds like cords of light woven through her being, and while the connections were firm, they were unsteady. Unsatisfied.

Of all the things to serve as a tipping point, Yuni wasn’t sure if she should be surprised or not that it came down to Skull’s love life. 

“Uncle Reborn,” Yuni said calmly, hands folded on her desk. 

It had taken a while for her to consider it that. Her desk, her office. Not her mother’s. The journals she inherited assured her this was normal.

“Hm.” Reborn wasn’t really looking at her, but out the window.

The Arcobaleno Manor was a sunny Tuscan villa, lovingly restored and maintained despite its infrequent usage. Situated amidst rolling hills and vineyards, the historic estate was rarely full. Still, even with a spread-out family that traveled so much, it was nice to have a place to come home to.

“Did you kill a civilian?”

The corner of his mouth quirked in wry humor. “Miss Yuni might want to be more specific.”

She suppressed a sigh. “Two nights ago. Outside a club in Florence.”

“Oh. Yes.” Reborn casually nudged the brim of his hat from his eyes, Leon stretching in similar non-concern. “I did that.”

As if she hadn’t already known.

“Could you please tell me why?”

Reborn flicked his gaze to her at last, eye contact dark and intense as it often was. He had quickly overtaken her in height despite them being physically the same age. At sixteen he was lean and wiry, with clear skin and a face that threatened of the handsome adult he’d become. His presence was older and heavier than his body, like a force of nature masquerading poorly as a man.

“He was scum.”

Yuni propped her chin in her hand, brow raised. “Oh?”

“Only scum would try to leave a bar with a child.”

“Skull says he told the man he was eighteen.”

“Not even a blind idiot could mistake _that_ idiot for being eighteen. I did a civic service.” Reborn coolly turned back to the window. “Any adult who touches him gets a bullet, and if he tries to consort with any teenagers it’ll be _his_ head I take.” 

“So Skull shall just be celibate, then. Along with the rest of the Arcobaleno, naturally.”

“None of the others have caused this kind of trouble.”

Yuni knew better than to think she’d ever change Reborn’s mind on something once it was made up. 

“Well,” she said. “Thank you for telling me what happened.”

The dead man was of no real consequence. The clean-up crew had been called promptly and done their work with the usual efficiency. Another missing person in a big city likely better off without him.

Yuni had other concerns.

* * *

Upon inheriting the Arcobaleno, Yuni had made it her mission to win over each of the seven on her own merits. And contrary to what the popular belief may have been, she hadn't expected Skull to be the easiest conquest. Clouds never were, with their forceful personalities and proneness to claustrophobia. Her Cloud was no exception, although it had taken her some time to realize it.

Growing up she had always known him as the ‘fun’ uncle, the one she associated with sweets and bright colors and vivid games of pretend. He had attended her little tea parties and made detailed gossip with her court of stuffed animals, had let her paint his nails whatever hideous patterns she wanted. 

As Yuni got older she became progressively more aware of Skull’s status in the Arcobaleno. 

 _A runt for every litter,_ her mother had fondly written in one of her journals. 

He was still a true Arcobaleno. His flame was impossibly bright and pure, integrated with his body at cellular level in a manner that was both constant and effortless. To possess the strongest Cloud flame in the world without even _trying_ was no small accomplishment - but he was still less experienced and more naive, and had wisely submitted to the legendary killers around him.

“And now everyone’s mad at me!” Skull finished, collapsing with a flourish onto the lounge chaise. “When I didn’t even do anything wrong!”

Skull was about Yuni’s own height, slender and soft in a way that implied his speed and flexibility. His background was in acrobatics and in playing tricks on the laws of physics, not brute strength, and that much was plain to see with him stripped of his leathers and down to the tight elasticity of his underarmor. 

Yuni hummed thoughtfully. She didn’t do it on purpose, but she had many mannerisms that reminded people painfully of her mother. Aria would have given Skull a patient but knowing smile, like a parent telling an uppity child to go make nice with his siblings. Her gentle brand of cunning always made others feel like there were things she wasn’t telling him, and that these things amused her greatly.

Yuni liked to think she was kind. Sincere. But perhaps also prone to keeping things to herself.

“It sounds like,” she said, carefully picking her words, “you might have hurt their feelings.”

Skull snorted. “You’re a very sympathetic person, Miss Yuni. But even if such a thing were possible, I wouldn’t be capable of it.”

“Perhaps you underestimate yourself.”

He sighed in the way that made it clear he didn’t believe her.

Yuni hummed again. “I know that I’m not one of the Arcobaleno in the same way the rest of you are."

“That’s not-“

“It is,” she said pleasantly. “I may care about you all greatly and would like for you to get along, but I know there’s history between you that’s far older than me. Sky or no, it’d be presumptuous to tell you what to do in this situation.”

The harmonization of the Arcobaleno had always been backwards. Their Sky was, by the curse’s own design, replaceable, and had always been a largely passive presence. With Yuni as their third (and hopefully final) Sky, there was the potential that she could blossom into a genuine leader - but the fact remained that she was still their junior by decades and had only been with them for a fraction of the curse’s duration.

“You’re still our Sky. Even if you don’t feel comfortable calling yourself our boss yet, you still hold authority,” Skull said. 

“I know. You don’t have to reassure me.” Yuni patted him on the knee. “This is just how things are right now.”

“But what should I _do_? Even Verde and Fon are giving me the cold shoulder, and they’ve never done that before.”

“Because you went on a date?”

Skull pondered for a moment. “Actually, they didn’t seem to care so much about that. They didn’t seem to get upset at all until Reborn told them I took my Pacifier off.”

Yuni looked up at that. “Oh?”

“Well. I mean. It’s not like these are real, we can remove them whenever we want!” Skull rolled over to sit upright. “It just felt like an awkward thing to explain to a civilian…”

Yuni nodded slowly. “I see.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is! I wouldn’t be upset if…” Skull faltered. “If they…”

Realization seemed to settle over him: replicas or not, the pacifiers were the tangible symbol of their harmonization. The idea of one of the others shedding it to fraternize with strangers wouldn't sit well. The Arcobaleno could fight or shun one another as mood dictated, but ultimately they were bound, and everyone who saw them knew they were bound. As a harmonized unit, something dark and primal writhed and smoldered within them all.

_One of us. Part of us. Mine._

It was a concept that the others had all cottoned to by instinct, but Skull had been a civilian. There were still things about their world that he hadn't been raised to know or embrace, things most considered too obvious to tell him about.

“Uh,” he said uncomfortably. “But I. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know that the others can be awful rough on you,” Yuni said evenly. “And Clouds are hard to hold by nature. If you were to… wander. I wouldn’t think less of you for it.”

She didn’t need the gift of prophecy to see it coming. She’d made a note of it years ago, even trying to hint about it after walking in on Reborn forcing Skull to act as a leg rest on hands and knees.

“If you keep that up, you can’t be surprised if he strays,” she had said mildly after Skull’s elbows finally buckled and he was summarily kicked out of the room.

Colonnello had scoffed, huffy and indignant at the idea. “He wouldn’t _dare._ ”

“Lackey’s not going anywhere,” Reborn had replied, utterly unconcerned.

‘He is ours’ went unspoken, but she could feel it in the air.

 _I think it’s their way of being brotherly,_ her mother had written. _Their bonds are always stronger afterwards so I mostly let it be._

And it was true that the Rain and Sun had dug their hooks in so _very_ deep, with their more aggressive flames keeping the Cloud short-leashed and submissive. However while their brand of tough love worked between the two of them just fine (as childhood friends who could be as vitriolic or rough as they pleased in good fun) the only evidence Skull had of his value was the possessive, hungry way the others’ auras shackled him in his place. The curse had taught them that they could get away with being cruel to one another without risking deharmonization, and so his treatment had been all stick and no carrot for decades. 

So no. Yuni could not think poorly of Skull at all.

“Okay maybe I was a little insensitive, but I’ve _never_ been malicious to the others!” Skull insisted. “Which is more than I can say for them. It’s not - this isn’t fair!”

“It’s not,” Yuni agreed.

“I don’t owe any of them anything!”

“You don’t.”

“If they aren’t sorry for the way they’ve battered me around the past three generations, I don’t need to be sorry for removing a fake Pacifier to go on a date.”

“That is completely correct.”

Skull groaned, curling in on himself.

“… I’m going to have to apologize.”

“I would,” Yuni said with an affectionate squeeze of his hand. “But only because I think we _all_ need to sit down and have a talk.”

Skull looked up, eyes wide. “Oh god. Please no.”

“I feel it’s for the best.”

“Yuni-“

“As your Sky,” she said firmly, gaze unwavering. “I think it’s time the Arcobaleno get some things out in the open. Now that the curse is broken, we really need to be thinking about our future and how to properly maintain our harmony. Without the Pacifiers to bind us it’s going to take actual communication.”

Skull looked like he wanted the earth to open up and devour him. “You’re going to gather the Arcobaleno together and make us talk about our feelings.”

“This going to be good for us, Uncle Skull.” Yuni smiled. “And it’s been a long time coming. I’ll make sure the others know that it isn’t your fault.”

He fell back onto the couch. “What sin have I done to deserve this.”

She let him have his theatrics. Drama seemed to help him feel better, for some reason. Yuni chose to consider it endearing along with his other quirks.

After all Skull’s talent, aside from his strange inability to succumb to lethal injury, was in networking. Even in the mafia world people let their guards down around him. It was deeply unusual for his flame type, which was usually kept by loners and drifters, yet as evidenced by his status in the Carcassa even the most cold-hearted and vicious don could find the Cloud Arcobaleno charming.

Skull might not have been taken universally seriously, but he _was_ almost universally well-liked. Bearing flames beyond anything anyone had ever seen, if he were to stray he would have no small number of suitors.

It was unacceptable.

* * *

They might have looked almost comical to an outsider, all sat in the tea room. Seven colorful teenagers, most of them characteristically sullen and reluctant, with one thirty-some year old woman who looked deeply exhausted.

“Thank you for taking the time to come out. I know it’s not easy to get us all in one place at one time,” Yuni said brightly.

There were grumbles and nods in response. Their disdain wasn’t directed at her of course, but at each other. Like always.

“It appears that there’s been some rocky communication lately between us. It’s caused me to think a bit on how we’ve managed conflict resolution in the past, and whether or not that is sustainable going forward,” Yuni continued. “Does anyone have any thoughts about that?”

“My only thought is that I don’t see why we all have to be held accountable for Skull’s latest nonsense,” Colonnello said, arms crossed over his chest. 

“Reborn’s the one who overreacted!” Skull protested. “He shot my date right in front of me!”

“You’re lucky I didn’t go back for whatever incompetent let you into that establishment in the first place,” Reborn said, somehow managing to look both bored and mildly entertained by the whole scene.

“I’m the same physical age as you now!”

“But the key factor is that I look legal, while the fact that you can walk down the street on a weekday without officers asking why you aren’t in class is a miracle.”

Yuni didn’t say that the Giglio Nero estate had been rung at least twice to affirm “custody” of the wayward youth police had picked up for truancy. There was really no getting around it - Skull's features may have been lovely enough to model, but even expert makeup application couldn’t make him look older than sixteen (he’d had to cut back a little on the cosmetics anyway to protect his adolescent skin, something he was still very sore about).

“We’re not here to argue. We’re here to talk like adults,” Yuni said. “Now: what does it mean to you all to be part of the Arcobaleno?”

A ripple of surprise moved through the group. Blank looks were exchanged, and quickly turned contemplative.

“The curse is broken, after all. We are the last generation of Arcobaleno that there will ever be. So what is this group? What are any of you to one another?”

There were too many things that had gone unspoken between the Seven. Feelings and opinions and shared understanding that no one ever voiced. Resentments that had been left to fester.

“I hate every last one of you,” Viper said finally. 

The bitterness would surface first: it was easier for them to express the bad over the good. And the vitriol was, again, not directed towards Yuni. So funny it was, for the Sky to be such a non-entity in this circle. 

“It’s not about you, really,” Viper amended after a moment’s hesitation. “I’d hate anyone that I was bound to by force. The fact that you are all horribly obnoxious is secondary.”

“So you hate the situation,” Yuni clarified. “And the other Seven are, to you…?”

“You’re my bondmates,” Viper said simply. “I don’t have to like it. I won’t. But even without the curse, attempting to detangle ourselves at this advanced stage would be harmful. I have my life back and the nature of this harmony makes it less restrictive than most others. In that light, I can endure you.”

It was as sentimental as Viper was likely to get, but it was easy to read between the lines. Despite the Mist's deep hatred for the curse, the actual bonds suited them. 

“You’ve managed to be both sincere and fucking rude,” Colonnello snorted. “But I guess I agree. None of us wanted this. But we can’t change the past, and as annoying as you all are I don’t want any of you dead. I never set out to find a Sky but we’ve been together for this long. I’m not unhappy.”

An understatement - Colonnello was actually very happy. Terrible as the event itself had been, he’d gained a lot since the curse. He liked his job, he liked his position in the mafia world, and his bondmates included his childhood friend and the woman he loved. Pretenses aside, the Rain fostered an abrasive affection for everyone amongst their number.

Lal gave a curt shrug.

“I’m only half an Arcobaleno so I don’t know what role I have to play in this conversation. I accepted the situation long ago. I also made peace with dying and while the fact that it didn’t happen in the Battle of the Rainbow is a bonus, death could just as easily happen tomorrow some other way,” she said. “As for the rest of you, it figures that only murderers and madmen would be able to harmonize with other murderers and madmen. I didn't expect more and here we are. So I’m not bothered.”

Pragmatic, honest. No frills. It was very true to Lal’s nature.

“My lifestyle was not terribly changed by the curse and it will not change now that it’s gone. If anything the whole ordeal opened me up to new spheres of research,” Verde said casually. “I couldn’t care less about any of your drama. I accept my responsibilities as a member of this harmony and accept the roles you play as my bondmates. I don’t see what more there is than that. Moreover, logically as the World’s Strongest, no one is more worthy of harmonizing with any of us than the others present.”

There were no protests. While the civilian world might have believed in soul mate pairs, the mafia world believed that fate traditionally came in groups of seven. Complete, long-term harmonization was believed only possible through divine intervention, destiny or impossible odds (Sky types were rare, and those able to facilitate such a complex phenomena rarer still; once established, getting a harmonization to even _last_ was one in a million).

If anyone thought marriage was hard work, they’d never tried balancing a soul bond with 7+ people. Admittedly the curse had done most of the heavy lifting in keeping them together, but a connection sustained for generations wasn’t going to just disappear. What the Arcobaleno had was too precious to discount.

Fon took a moment to ponder his response. “I believe that what happened to us happened for a reason, and that ultimately it turned out for the better. I think that as unfortunate as the circumstances that brought us together were, we are compatible. Perhaps even meant to find one another. At any rate, I certainly wouldn’t prefer deharmonization.”

Fon had always been the most accepting of them. Beneath his gentle exterior he also believed in harsh truths and brutal laws of nature; the various interacting dynamics of the weak and the strong. Even among such tempestuous and emotional people, he felt at home.

Attention shifted down the line to Skull, causing the atmosphere to take a slightly more oppressive turn. The others were clearly still displeased by recent events. He wilted slightly under their shared gaze.

“I didn’t mean anything by taking off my Pacifier,” he began, staring down at the table. “But sometimes I’m not happy here. Or with you. Sometimes I do think about leaving.”

He took a deep breath, and the air in the room seemed to thin.

“But I always get over it. The Arcobaleno has been part of me for too long imagine being without it. And after all this time I like to think that I know you, even if I wasn’t part of your world when I started out, and there are still things about you that are harder for me to understand because of it.” 

Yuni took a moment to appreciate how the power dynamics that ruled the mafia community would have been totally foreign to Skull. He wouldn’t have understood why he was instantly slotted at the bottom of the pecking order, with everyone so quick to put him in his place and assert their dominance. The vice grip of his bondmates’ instinctual aggression and possessiveness had clamped on him the tightest, with him lacking the resources and knowledge to push back. Runt of the litter, omega of the alpha pack, lowest on the hierarchy. 

Skull shrugged tightly. “Anyway, I don’t really plan on going anywhere. There’s nothing out there that I want. At least, not more than I what I have. So. Yeah.”

Again, they were saved by Skull's ignorance of the mafia world. He didn't want more because he didn't _know_ to want more, didn't know he could _have_ more if he sought it out. He didn't know his worth, thinking he was without options because no outsider had dared undermine the Arcobaleno and make him an offer. It was tenuous, leaving it to hope that such a day wouldn't come.

If they had been strong in all of the ways that mattered, someone else would have apologized too. Unfortunately unlike Skull, the others had been born and bred by the mafia life, where certain cruelties and shows of superiority were like breathing. It didn’t mean he wasn’t valued, and if he’d been raised in their culture he would have known that from the start. He would have known that a lack of expressed sentiment or affection didn’t mean there was none - but just that displaying such things openly was a gesture of vulnerability none of the others would dare afford. He was weakest of the Seven, but one of the Seven nonetheless.

Someone should have said so. Instead there was silence for a long, pregnant moment.

“Well,” Reborn said, legs crossed and Leon perched regally on his hat. “You’ve all done a great job of toeing around what we’re really feeling, so I suppose I will have to say it: We’re stuck. We couldn’t leave even if we wanted to, but we _don’t_. Not really. We hurt each other, lie, steal, betray, and it doesn’t matter. Even Viper only ran off with the Varia to be rebellious-“

Viper slammed their hands on the table. “You-“

“Am completely correct. You were bitter and wanted to act out by cheating on us and where did it get you? No where. Because you’re _ours_. Everyone here belongs to this harmony and it’s terrible but it’s ours. And you.” Reborn turned his steely gaze on Skull, who cringed back. “You’ve been caught between your cowardice in both directions. Scared of us, scared of the world out there without us. Trying to have it both ways. I’ll make it easy for you: you’re not going anywhere. Whatever hangups you have about your status need to be resolved on your own time. You’re never going to surpass it and I can’t think of anything more pathetic than an immortal who still flinches at the mere mention of pain.”

"But-"

Reborn's eyes flashed dangerously. "Did I ask for your input?"

Skull shrunk down into his seat. "... No."

"No?"

"No, _sir_."

“Uncle,” Yuni said firmly. “That is not kind.”

“I am not kind,” Reborn said with airy indifference. “None of us are, save maybe for you, who still dismissed my murder of a civilian without second thought not 24 hours ago. Because you were raised realistically and are to be a worthy don, and we are all very proud.”

He straightened, uncrossing his legs to plant both feet firmly on the floor. 

“You were right to call this meeting, however. The breaking of the curse has set us adrift and made us wonder how and where we stand in relation to one another. The rest of the community has been wondering the same: if the Arcobaleno is still to exist as group or if we’re slowly fading out,” Reborn said. “It seems obvious to me that interpersonally, professionally and socially, our continued union is of maximum benefit." 

He had a point of course. The consolidation of power held by the Arcobaleno had enforced order on an otherwise chaotic community for roughly half a century. Their dissolution would have consequences beyond their own group. 

“So get over yourselves,” Reborn said with a half-smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Yuni met his gaze and couldn't describe what she saw there. “We can’t be parted, we don’t want to be and there’s every reason why we shouldn’t."

This was not how she had hoped this conversation would go, but it was still far from as bad as she'd feared. And perhaps Reborn was right, in all his bluntness and cynicism. Perhaps the Arcobaleno were all monsters in their own ways, only capable of monstrous love, and wouldn't even know what to do with idyllic bonds if they'd formed them. 

“…Well. With all of that being said and laid in the open, we can at least agree,” she said. “We want this harmonization to work.”

It was akin to the decision to continue an arranged marriage after the parents had passed on, the choice to sustain a political union once the war was over. The silence, or rather the lack of protest, was her confirmation.

“Okay,” she took a steadying breath. “Let’s talk about what’s next.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me, writing for dormant fandoms that've been on my brain since 2007.  
> The other chapters are outlined and the next one is about half done. The dates will take place after a small timeskip, and may or may not be in chronological order.
> 
> The story is built on my headcanon that harmonization is a very intimate and committed thing that transcends romance, friendship or family, but isn't necessarily affectionate either (#PackDynamics was closest I could get) especially if a curse forces you into it. So the Arcobaleno - minus Aria and Yuni of course - have been in a sort of unspoken relationship this whole time, but never had to do any emotional labor to maintain it. So now it's a mess.


	2. Mist

Skull used to love going on dates. He had done it all the time.

Nothing serious of course. His life on the road aside, he had admittedly never been very big on commitment. Counter-cultures in the late 60’s (runaways, cirque performers, bikers, and queer folks mainly) hadn’t really emphasized it anyway. Still, rolling into the latest town and finding some pretty thing to show him around had always been a highlight. He couldn’t count how many restaurants, how many clubs, how many strangers he’d fallen in love with for a night. It seemed like an eternity ago.

These days Skull actively _dreaded_ Date Night. 

“Is. Ah.” He swallowed. 

There were few things more uncomfortable than standing at a threshold with the Varia on the other side, staring you down with only bad intentions. He tried valiantly not to wilt under their gaze and only partially succeeded.

“Is Viper ready?” 

Somehow, impossibly, the eyes glaring down at him became even more murderous. If Skull felt any smugness about it (‘ _they were_ ours _first,_ our _Mist, we knew their real name when you_ didn’t-‘) he didn’t let it show. Self-preservation and all that. 

“Mm, Viper is it?” Lussuria hummed in faux consideration. “Sorry. You must have the wrong place.”

Skull’s leg shot out just in time to keep the door from being slammed in his face, his Cloud flames shoring up in his muscles to keep it braced it open.

“ _Mammon_ and I made the arrangements months ago,” Skull hissed from behind grit teeth.

It would have been easy to give up there and say he tried, but a few months was about how long it took to save up for taking Viper out, and goddammit he’d made a reservation and everything.

“Ne, Mammon isn’t in tonight,” Bel said from somewhere inside the penthouse suite. “Looks like you got stood up.”

“Viper would _never_ turn down free dinner and you- _know_ _it_ -“ It felt like half the Varia was now there and trying to force the door shut.

"And _you_ think you know Mammon _so well_ don't you-"

"Maybe I do!"

It was not the best start to the evening, but Skull couldn’t be doing much worse than Colonnello, whose idea of picking Viper up allegedly involved barreling through the door, rifle drawn and shouting “I’m here to be leeched off of for an entire evening just to go home alone, who’s hard enough to stop me!?” while Lal waited chagrined in the car.

Apparently Iemetsu Sawada was still laughing about it, despite the high cost in damages that wound up being incurred.

There was just no getting around the sinkhole of negative feelings that had formed, unaddressed, in the past few years. It was a perpetual cycle of bitterness: the Arcobaleno resenting the Varia for trespassing on their bond with Viper, the Varia resenting the Arcobaleno for having Viper like they never could. And now, ever since the Varia had found themselves a new Mist that they could have for keeps, Viper had been resenting the lot of them.

Suddenly the weight bearing down on the poor door was lifted, causing Skull to lurch forward and across the threshold. A deceptively strong hand caught him hard in the chest.

“If you are all done with this juvenile display,” Viper said dryly, “I want the meal I was promised.”

“Oh. There you are.” Skull cleared his throat and straightened. “Hi.”

Viper’s eyes were concealed by the hood of their posh double-clasped coat, but he had the distinct sense they were raising their brow at him. 

“I expected you earlier.”

“Uh, yeah. I had to wait on the car because I know you don’t like the motorcycle -“

“I don’t actually care. Let’s go.” Viper pushed past him and to the hall, calling over their shoulder to the simmering Varia. “Tell the boss I may be out late.”

Everyone seemed to speak up at once, asking variants of _how late_ and _why_ and _what could you possibly be out late doing with_ him? Viper ignored all of them, and Skull scrambled to keep up lest he be left behind with the cruelest band of assassins in the world.

It was only once they were down the hall with the elevator doors shut firmly behind them that he allowed himself a sigh of relief.

“They don’t like you,” Viper said casually.

“Eh? Yeah, I kind of figured…” Skull rubbed the back of his neck. “But they don’t really like any of us, do they? Except you of course.”

“They don’t. But they’re also sore that you were able to take so much damage from them in the Battle of the Rainbow without issue.” Viper paused a moment. “I’m annoyed too, actually. I spent a lot of money on those rings; you shouldn’t have remained standing after that attack.”

“Well it did hurt, if that makes you feel better?” Skull said uncertainly. 

He felt Viper roll their eyes at him. 

“The whole affair was a waste of resources anyway. Another sham set up by that masked conman.”

“Yeah. But it still worked out in the end, didn’t it?”

Viper said nothing, only turning to look at him with unreadable blankness.

The elevator chimed as they reached the ground floor.

* * *

 

Skull didn’t do awkward silences. If allowed, he could talk for hours about anything and everything. Viper actually did allow him to do so, even if it was probably because they were never one to turn down free information. 

“So the Carcassa is really being troubled by these upstarts?” Viper asked, idly examining their wine.

The restaurant was profoundly expensive in of itself, but getting the most upscale dining room to themselves was an extra dent in Skull’s account. Still, he had to admit that the food was good and the view of the cityscape at night was enjoyable too.

“I wouldn’t say troubled,” he said. “Just annoyed. Territory squabbles, nothing new. The timing is just a pain, with the changeover in leadership happening.”

“Yes, I did hear of that. The eldest son is taking over.”

“Mm. I remember watching him grow up, you know? Funny isn’t it. How the time goes.”

“Funny.” Viper repeated, voice as monotone as ever. “You are very strange, Skull.”

“You’re not the first to say so, but I don’t know what you mean."

“There are days where I can’t tell where your masquerade ends and your absurdity begins,” Viper said plainly. “Whether you are truly as unconcerned as you act or if you’re actually a decent showman.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know I’m a _very_ decent showman!” Skull said, offended.

“So you admit it.”

“I’m not admitting anything! I don’t even know what I’m admitting to, you’re being all vague again-“

“Oh for-“ Viper huffed in frustration. “You make no sense. What sort of Cloud are you, to abide by such bondage for so long?”

This again. He could still remember the days leading up to Viper leaving, all those years ago. The fights, the outbursts, the demands to keep trying when the rest of them had given up on trying to break the curse. And they had tried, for a while.

The aftermath of the Fated Day had been a disorienting mess of phantom pains and dreams troubled by memories not their own. Emotions bled freely through their rainbow-colored bonds until no one could tell where they ended and the others began. They had, of course, tried to fight it. Most families desperately strove for harmonization only to fall short, but the Arcobaleno had actively attempted to sever theirs by any means necessary.

And the agony had been _unbelievable._

So they gave up. And Viper left.

“I don’t know anything about what a ‘Cloud’ is supposed to be,” Skull replied hotly. “I’m just me. And what am I supposed to do, run away like you? Because that worked _so_ great.”

Immediately there was regret as darkness settled over them, and suddenly the dining room began to feel small and claustrophobic. The walls seemed to be closing in and Skull wasn’t sure if it was an illusion or his own anxiety’s doing.

“Look,” he said, feeling a cold sweat break out on his neck. “I get why… I don’t like it but I do know why you did what you did.”

Although jealousy was irrational due to the permanent nature of the Arcobaleno’s connection, it was hard not to interpret what Viper had done as some kind of infidelity. They had run away, changed their name, blunted their power in order to wrap their Pacifier in a chain that blocked them from detection, and acted as someone else’s Mist for _years_.

Viper scoffed. “You think you know a lot more than you do. As usual.”

Skull might have been more upset if the Varia had a Cloud. As it was, he knew rationally that no one had ever _said_ Viper couldn’t leave. Just as no one had ever said that the Mist couldn’t enjoy the Varia’s company more, as was so clearly the case. It was still alien for him, as an outsider to the mafia world, to consider what Viper had done as cheating - but something inside him knew, deep in the raw and wounded cores where he kept his tangled bonds, what betrayal felt like.

“You’re not the only one who’s been unhappy,” Skull said bitterly. “Or felt trapped. I’m sorry you didn’t get to harmonize with the Sky you really wanted, but you can’t really think that the Varia could know you like we do.”

“That’s half the problem!”

Viper actually pounded a fist on the table, rattling the silverware. 

“Not only was my freedom stripped away, but I never agreed to let anybody know me so casually! Not for free! Not for _anything_! The Varia only know what I choose to disclose, but you-“ They made a noise of disgust. “It’s a violation of the highest order, a cruel joke that I have to be shackled to the likes of you for the rest of this unnatural life.”

Silence fell across the table. Skull was willing to bet the restaurant staff were hovering anxiously just around the bend, confused but paid enough to look the other way.

“... So that’s how it is.”

“That is how it’s always been.”

Skull leaned back in his seat, drained. “If you want to leave us so badly, why don’t you? The curse is broken. We’re still bound, but. It could probably be undone.”

Painfully, with none of them ever being the same again. Still, it was theoretically possible.

Viper was determinedly looking elsewhere, arms folded across their chest. “Idiot. There is no financial benefit to leaving. Being Arcobaleno gives me the status to charge as much as I want for my services. Moreover, I still owe Yuni a debt.”

They all did.

“Right,” Skull said with a sigh. “Especially with Aria gone…”

“I don’t trust that subordinate of hers,” Viper said dourly. “The Lightning. He does not know his place.”

“He’s useful right now when it comes to managing the Giglio Nero,” Skull said. “But if he oversteps… he’s replaceable.”

And no one would ever find the body.

“Do you… miss her, sometimes?” Skull asked, because thinking about Aria inevitably led to only one place. “Luce. I know it might not make sense, but-”

“Luce betrayed us,” Viper said coldly. “She forced herself upon us as Sky.”

If harmony was akin to synchronization, then the curse was as if someone had taken a bloody needle and brutally stitched their souls together. Even with the curse broken he could still feel his bonds with the others like hooks buried deep in his chest. A painful, gory intimacy between Skull and the six most dangerous people in the world. Of course he was upset about it but... it was hard to articulate what Luce had been to them. The trauma of feeling his Sky die, her flames flickering out and the bond shifting to her daughter, still haunted his dreams.

Viper clenched their fists on the table, knuckles going white.

“I will never forgive her.”

Skull didn’t mention that Viper didn’t actually answer his question.

* * *

 

They walked for a bit after dinner, across rain-slick cobblestone streets that were empty in the late night. 

“It’s not so bad, is it?” Skull asked, thumbs hooked into his waistcoat pockets. “If not for the curse we’d be dead by now. You’d never have met the Varia at all.”

“Don’t be philosophical with me. I implore you.”

“I mean it. There’s a bright side to everything, Viper.”

Viper scoffed. “That’s another reason the Varia don’t like you. You keep using that name.”

“It’s the name I know you by,” Skull said. “You only changed it to hide from us, didn’t you? Or was it more meaningful than that?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Viper stared thoughtfully into the river that carved through the city, waters black and glittering under the distant lights. “But it seems only fair to tell me your name in return.”

Skull faltered, leather shoes losing purchase for a brief moment on the stone. 

“Ah. My name?”

“I hope your parents didn’t actually name you Skull,” Viper said. “Although if they were anything like you are now, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Skull’s eyes turned to the overcast skies, where grey clouds were eclipsing the moon. He shook his head.

“No. They aren’t like me.”

“Hm. The others will not admit it, but we had very little luck tracking down your history,” Viper said.

“Well I joined the traveling carnival pretty young. They didn’t really keep diligent records, especially back then.”

“A circus runaway. What a cliche.”

Skull flippantly stuck out his tongue. “Rude. But my name doesn’t matter. I really was just a civilian before all this.”

“Oh I have no doubt about that-“

“I don’t use that name anymore, anyway. I don’t want to be called that.”

“I see. How hypocritical of you.”

Skull sighed heavily. “ _Fine_ , if you want me to call you Mammon from now on, it’s whatever. I just liked calling you that because. I don’t know, it demonstrates that we actually know each other. And I did miss you after you left you know?”

Viper had cared more about breaking the curse than establishing the structure of the Arcobaleno, and thus hadn’t been so aggressive in enforcing the pack mentality that ruled the mafia world. Without Viper the gap in experience between Skull and the next Arcobaleno on the hierarchy (Colonnello or Verde, depending on who you asked) had grown ever wider.

Viper looked at him with stoic consideration. “…I could allow you to call me Viper in public.”

“Oh?” Skull glanced up. “And how much would that cost me?”

“Your name.”

He groaned, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes.

“It’s rather suspicious for you to refuse.”

He rolled his eyes. 

“It’s suspicious that you want to know so badly.”

“Then you are refusing?”

Skull leaned against the railing that bracketed the river, heedless of staining his expensive dress trousers. He barely ever wore them anyway.

“… It's Baldur.”

“Baldur,” Viper repeated. “That’s a Nordic name.”

“Yeah.”

“You were living in France when we met you.”

“Germany before that. Russia before that. And before that it was… I’ve been around.”

Viper hummed. “Your parents must have a sense of humor, naming you that.”

“Not really.”

“Then remarkable foresight, depending on when your flames activated.” 

“You asked for my name, not my life story. Neither of which you’ve ever cared about before anyway.” Skull said, pushing off the rail. 

“That’s true enough. Fine,” Viper clasped Skull’s elbow in manner too clinical to be intimate, but the physical contact was notable nonetheless. “You are free to take me back now.  I suppose I’ll tell the Varia not to decimate you upon our arrival.” 

“I guess that’s your way of saying the date went well.”

“I got free dinner and information, so tonight was not a loss.”

“By that definition it was literally a gain! Just say so outright!”

Lapsing back into snark and snipe was comfortable, and beneath it Skull could feel the pleasant hum of their bonds glowing between them. 

Not a loss. Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Baldur is the name of the Norse god of beauty (not love/sex though, Freya and Frey were the gods of that) and light. He was the son of Odin and Frigg, making him Thor’s younger half-brother. In the Ragnorok tale he was blessed with invulnerability by his mother’s magic, and was loved by literally every living thing on earth except Loki, who orchestrated his death (which doesn't permanently stick, but still triggers the apocalypse).
> 
> Also, my headcanon for the Arcobaleno ages at the time of being cursed:  
> Verde: 35  
> Lal: 32  
> Fon: 30  
> Reborn: 30  
> Colonello: 30  
> Viper/Mammon: 28  
> Skull: 25
> 
> But pack hierarchy goes by strength as well as age/experience, so the pecking order from bottom to top is:  
> Skull -> Viper -> Colonnello -> Verde -> Lal -> Fon -> Reborn.  
> The Skies don't really rank and aren't included when people say "Seven Strongest".


	3. Rain

Skull was still half-asleep when he answered his phone, reaching for it on autopilot and nearly hitting himself in the face as he clumsily slapped it to his ear. 

“‘ello?”

“ _Ah, good. You’re awake,”_ Colonnello’s calm voice was accompanied by the heavy click of a reloading weapon, the muffled sound of gunfire echoing on the other side of the line.

Skull shot upright, resting on his elbows with the phone clutched hard in his hand. “I am now, but- are you in a gunfight!?”

“ _Eh, gunfight is a bit generous,_ ” Colonnello said as an explosion crackled through the speaker. “ _This is more like a massacre. So listen Lackey, you’re going to clear your schedule for this Saturday._ ”

“This Saturday?” Skull untwisted himself from his sheets in a mad fumble for his planner. “I uh, I really don’t know if-“

There was more heavy fire, as well as what sounded like the boom of a hand grenade.

“ _Lal and I are going to be in town so we’re taking you out. As in a date, not murder.”_

Skull wasn’t sure if that was meant to be a joke or not. 

“But sir I-“ He could hear Lal shouting in the background, angry Italian words that he couldn’t make out amidst the artillery.

 _“Oof, gotta go. Lal says we’re going to pick you up. Not sure what we’ll be doing yet, but wear something decent yeah?”_ Skull could practically hear the wink in the other man’s voice before the line went dead.

Skull sat there in stunned silence for a long moment before falling back onto the bed. He stared up into the ceiling of his Swiss hotel room, deeply exhausted but knowing he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep.

“God damn it.”

* * *

 

Skull stood in the damp moonlit alley that Saturday, struggling not to check his watch for the fifth time that minute. The rain had slowed to a trickle, droplets running in thin rivulets down the leather of his jacket. It was difficult not to fidget or fuss with his gloves as one of his subordinates slowly dragged a bodybag across the cobblestone. 

“Are you… okay, Master Skull?”

Plasma had been his aide within the Carcassa for the past few years. Young and sharp, with short blond hair and nails like talons. He wasn’t sure what she did within the family when he wasn’t around, but she was practical and unyielding in the face of all manner of gory details. Cloud-type and Finnish, bless her soul.

“What? Of course I am!” Skull cleared his his throat. “Why would you ask such a thing?”

“You’re a bit more quiet than usual is all,” Marrow said, dropping the bodybag unceremoniously to the ground and dusting his hands off on his jacket. He was slightly older than Plasma, considerably taller and built like a tank.

As a trio they all resembled a particularly well-kept biker gang, or perhaps a very colorful punk rock band. 

“Oh.” Skull forced a laugh. “Yes, well. I’ve obviously been thinking very deep thoughts! As I do.”

There was an uncomfortable pause.

“Right,” Plasma said, pointedly adjusting the sunglasses that concealed the purple of her eyes. “If you say so.”

An agonizing moment passed with only the soft rain and wet sound of cars on the nearby road to fill the void.

“Alright! I have a date tonight,” Skull blurted out. “They said they’ll pick me up but never said what _time_ so now I’m just a little uh… ahem. Can we hurry this up maybe?”

“Aah, I see! No problem sir. If you need to cut out early we won’t tell the boss about it either,” Marrow said. “Your part in this is pretty much done anyway.”

That much was true. A rival gang had been trying to sully the Carcassa’s reputation and hinder their business by distributing bad drugs in their name. Skull’s job had been to look at the patterns and pinpoint the root of the trouble before dispatching his subordinates to dig it out. Which they had. All that remained now was to send the interlopers a message.

“I appreciate it,” Skull said. “Even though I’d actually rather be working.”

“That doesn’t sound like you,” Plasma said mildly. “No offense. Who is this date?”

“It’s uh,” Skull cringed preemptively. “Colonnello and Miss Lal.”

The effect was immediate, with tension gathering in the postures of his subordinates almost on reflex.

“Those CEDEF dogs?” Marrow scoffed before remembering himself. “Uh, that is… sorry sir.”

Skull waved his apology off. The family didn’t like the External Advisors and the disdain was mutual, everyone knew that.

The Carcassa was a rough lot with a dangerous reputation. They didn’t waste time with corporate intrigue or pulling political strings and shunned all of the highbrow functions that were commonplace amongst the old and powerful families (which, of course, shunned them right back). They liked to get their hands dirty: drugs, blackmail, torture and prostitution were their staples. 

Skull had been all but ordered to work with them in the early days of the Arcobaleno. “We need someone to keep those hooligans under control,” Reborn had said, seemingly taking quiet delight in Skull’s fear. “As someone who specializes in making connections, charming them should be no problem for you.”

Sadism aside, like always Reborn had been right. It didn’t matter to the Carcassa that Skull was widely acknowledged as the Weakest of the Seven; the fact that he was so removed from what they considered the pretentious hypocrisy of the upper-crust mafioso apparently made him more likable. 

“You could refuse,” Plasma said, carelessly examining her phone. 

“I can’t,” Skull said. “They’re my bondmates. And they outrank me.”

Even though they didn’t respond, their disapproval was tangible in the air.

“What?”

“It is… not our place, sir.” Plasma said carefully. “What the Seven Strongest do is beyond any of us to question.”

“It’s just that we’ve worked with you a long while,” Marrow continued. “And we like you. So it’s hard not to take certain things personal, is all.”

“No one takes it more personally than me,” Skull said wryly. “But I’m still the youngest and weakest. That’s not up for debate.”

“That still makes you the seventh strongest person in the world - I had to compete with over a dozen other Carcassa to earn the privilege of working under you, sir.” Plasma said. “By having you as an official associate of ours, our family’s power has expanded exponentially over the years. Such growth outside the Vongola’s sanctum of old-money allies is unheard of.”

“Every pack has someone who is the youngest and least experienced,” Marrow said. “It’s the obligation of the strong to protect and nurture them.”

Skull thought about Enma, who was both pushed around and fiercely coddled by his family. He thought about the Vongola’s Lightning Guardian, whose safety was always of such high priority. This whole conversation was beginning to make him uncomfortable.

“Look, it’s not as if I get singled out _that_ much. All of us Arcobaleno treat each other like this. We’re not an affectionate bunch.”

Viper had attacked all of them at one point or another. Verde was apathy incarnate. Even Reborn and Colonnello greeted one another with violence.

“And I’ve seen how the Carcassa works on the inside too,” Skull continued. “When you say you ‘competed’ with a dozen of your colleagues, how many of them did you grievously injure in the process?”

Plasma chewed idly on the inside of her cheek. “Shows of dominance and power are common in our world, it’s true. But they should be reserved for solidifying one’s place in the hierarchy - there is no benefit in repeatedly beating down the submissive.”

“Harmony especially is supposed to be, I don’t know, _happy_. Love and trust and souls in eternal synchronization, all that sappy nonsense.” Marrow added.

“Well none of us chose harmony,” Skull said sullenly. “Maybe we just don’t know how to do any of those things.”

It felt like the punchline of a cruel joke: congratulations, you’ve found your soulmates! The catch? Why, they’re all hyper-violent monsters of course!

Typical.

“Well. We won’t keep you from your date in any case,” Plasma said evenly. “We’ll be fine, won’t we Marrow?”

“Totally.” Marrow dug a bone saw out from the boot of the car. “I’m just gonna chop up a body and pin the parts to that wall now. You try and have a good time, sir.”

Sometimes Skull really wished he still had friends outside the mafia.

* * *

Skull had no idea what Colonnello had meant by ‘something decent’ but he assumed that leathers were off the table. Thanks to his early departure he’d managed to return to his hotel, shower and change into a button-up and slacks, along with the only pair of dress shoes he’d thought to pack. 

All the while, the words of his subordinates echoed in his mind. 

Even after all this time, there was no getting away from the fact that Skull was an outsider to mafia culture, and had in many cases had to rely on secondhand information. Anything related to harmonization unfortunately fell under that category.

Detangling fact from romanticized fiction was a challenge. The Carcassa wasn’t led by a harmonized Sky, and neither were more prestigious families like the Bovino or Cavallone. Harmony was one of those mythological things that all mafia children had grown up knowing about, but would rarely get to experience for themselves.

_Love and trust and souls in eternal synchronization, all that sappy nonsense._

Skull could feel Colonnello and Lal’s arrival before his phone buzzed to tell him so, the bonds sending phantom tingles up his spine with their proximity.

Souls in eternal synchronization? Check. For better or worse.

Trust? That was harder to say. The Arcobaleno had made a pact in the beginning to never truly harm one another, and over the years there was the increased understanding that they were all in this mess together. 

Yet there was no room for vulnerability in any of the other seven, no room for showing weakness. Even Lal and Colonnello, who were obviously in love to anyone who cared to look, had toed around each other for decades rather than appear as anything less than bulletproof. 

Trust was as much a fairy tale in the mafia world as harmonization was.

Skull’s musings were interrupted as he exited the hotel lobby and set foot onto the street outside, where a glossy black limousine was pulled onto the curb. The door was pushed open by the heel of a black leather shoe. 

“Well don’t just stand there, lackey. We’re blocking the street here.” 

Skull sidled reluctantly into the car with a sigh.

Colonnello was lounging in the opposite seat, wearing a black dress shirt with a blue tie that matched the navy of his eyes hanging undone around his neck. On his left side was Lal, black dress clinging to her curves and long legs crossed, stiletto heels sharp as knives.

Skull swallowed, desperately choking down the beginnings of what could only be described as bisexual distress.

“So,” he said, trying not to twitch too much under their gaze. “I’m guessing whatever job you were doing worked out?”

“Pfft, it was child’s play really,” Colonnello said. “Just another cabal of goons who’d rather die than negotiate.”

“There will be more incidents as Tsunayoshi Sawada transitions into power,” Lal said. “It’s to be expected.”

“It’ll get worse before it gets better, if the kid really intends to bring us back to the Primo’s way of doing things,” Colonnello said. “Seems a bit far-fetched to me, but what do I know? He’s been interesting so far.”

“He did help us break the curse,” Skull shrugged.

Enma was invested in Tsuna, and that was enough. It was interesting to consider that someone who had grown up as an outsider to the mafia world now stood to inherit all of it. Maybe, under such leadership, things really could change for the better.

“Hm. Still, if the boy stirs up too much trouble it falls on his Guardians to keep him alive,” Lal said. “We’re only obligated to do so much.”

“His father will be cross if he hears you say that.” Colonnello teased. “And I owe the old man a debt too, you know.”

“Iemetsu Sawada’s feelings and your debts to him are not my concern.”

The limo took them to an upscale jazz lounge where the lights were dim and the walls were a deep red, art and signed photographs tastefully arranged throughout the space. Skull hoped that Colonnello would ask Lal to dance at some point; the night would go by faster if he spent it in the background as a third wheel.

The hostess was a young woman in a bowtie who greeted them cheerfully.

“Welcome! Just the three of you?” She asked before looking to Lal. “Are these your brothers? The drinking age for beer and wine is sixteen, eighteen for spirits.”

“Oh, we’re not siblings, we’re more like…” Skull hesitated, uncertain of what to say when ‘colleagues’ was too impersonal and ‘friends’ was too affectionate. 

“I’ve known them a long time,” he finished awkwardly.

Colonnello hummed, throwing an arm around Skull’s shoulders in a manner a little too rough to be endearing.

“We’re his _soul mates_ you see,” he said, giving a squeeze that bordered on strangulation. “Isn’t fate cruel?”

Skull couldn’t agree more. The poor girl was looking between the three of them - two boys in their late teens and a humorless adult woman - with an expression of pure bewilderment and discomfort. 

Blessedly, they were interrupted by an older woman in a suit and pointed glasses. 

“I’m terribly sorry about that. She’s new,” the woman said as she herded them into the lounge. “We were informed that you’d be arriving.”

“Apparently,” Lal muttered. The rest of the Arcobaleno couldn’t grow up fast enough for her liking. 

They were led to the VIP booth and assured a complimentary round of drinks for the trouble, with notably no further mention of age verification.

For about five minutes, everything was fine. The music, though not Skull’s first choice, was nice enough, as was the ambiance and general feel of the place.

Unfortunately five minutes was apparently all it took for Colonnello to get bored, with the Rain seemingly expanding into Skull’s seat to drape himself over the smaller man.

“Sir, you’re- kind of heavy-“

Colonnello was touchy. He always had been. Whether he was in combat or amongst peers, his instinct was to get as physical and tactile as possible. Skull didn’t mind that in of itself, he just wished the Rain was a little less rough about it. 

“Say, you were in town on work weren’t you? Anything interesting?” Colonnello said, basically grappling the Cloud on autopilot for want of having something to do with his hands.

Lal took a sip of her drink. “Knowing those Carcassa thugs, it was probably something gory and tasteless.”

“Well…” Skull didn’t want to call Lal a hypocrite for more reason than one. Especially since nailing body parts to a wall had actually been involved that day. “I found who was trying to sabotage the Carcassa with bad drugs.”

"Drugs, of course." Lal clicked her tongue disdainfully. “Remind me again why we sent you to work for those degenerates.”

“Reborn’s idea. He said it was to keep tabs on them. I say he just wanted to toughen Skull up a little,” Colonnello mussed Skull’s hair. “Do you think it’s working?”

“I _like_ the Carcassa,” Skull said with a wince. “I’ve worked with them a long time now.”

“Exactly. If you haven’t learned what you need from them by now, you’re not going to,” Lal said. “We should relocate you somewhere better suited.”

“What?” Skull froze in Colonnello’s grip. “What do you mean?”

“You’re an Arcobaleno. A reprobate family like the Carcassa is beneath you,” Lal said, brow raised like it was obvious. “You’ve been a rather active patron for the Simon family. Perhaps you could help them grow their numbers.”

“I’ve thought about it, but Reborn thinks that introducing Earth Flames on a mass scale could upset the balance of power too much.” Skull said.

“Ugh, Reborn this, Reborn that. He’s not the boss of us.” Colonnello said irritably.

“I agree, but don’t let your rivalry blind you. He’s our strongest and his judgement is usually sound,” Lal said. “The Earth flames _are_ a risk. But if Sawada is really going to try turning the community on its head anyway, the Vongola will need strong allies. It’s worth investigating.”

“Okay,” Skull said. “But the Carcassa -“

“What? Don’t tell me you’ve gotten attached to those thugs.” Colonnello rolled his eyes. “That is _so_ like you.”

“All else fails he can come back to CEDEF,” Lal said. “He is stronger than he was before.”

“Yeah,” Colonnello seemed to perk up, eyes brightening. “Or we can resume his training. It’s been a while.”

Oh god. The word ‘training’ immediately brought back horrible memories of exhaustion and pain; of being confused and freshly cursed and told that he couldn’t go home again. 

“No!”

Both Lal and Colonnello turned to him slowly.

“No?” They both repeated. 

“N… no. I can work with the Simon no problem, but I don’t want to leave the Carcassa. And I definitely don’t want to go back to the External Advisors.”

“Is that so?” Lal asked, her dark eyes sharp.

“Let’s remind you of how this works, Lackey.” Colonnello’s grip on Skull’s waist tightened. “You’re the runt of the litter, and we decide what’s best for you. Get it?”

“That’s not fair,” Skull said, heart hammering like a rabbit’s in his chest. 

“Oh? And what’s unfair about the strong dictating the weak?”

“I’m not a kid anymore, I should have a say in where I go or who I work for!” Skull protested. “And as for strength, technically you weren’t even supposed to _be_ one of the Seven!”

For a moment Colonnello’s grip went slack. 

“Excuse me?”

For a split second Skull was certain he’d lost his voice. He knew he was very, very close to passing a point of no return. He should back down. It wasn’t too late.

But he couldn’t go back to the External organization, to Mafia Island and the others’ training. He _couldn’t._

“Technically,” Skull said shakily as he pulled himself upright. “You were Miss Lal’s tagalong. Whereas I was actually chosen as one of the Seven.”

Colonnello’s eyes darkened as he pushed himself deep into Skull’s space. Their pacifiers clinked together as the Rain’s chest pressed against the Cloud's own, sending sparks of flame down their bonds.

“Are you saying you’re stronger than me, Lackey?”

“Uh.” Skull swallowed. “Well.”

“Because if you’re challenging me for rank, you’d better make damn sure you’re clear about it.”

“I’m not- I don’t want to fight.” Skull was pretty sure he was going to start shaking soon, but by some miracle his voice was holding steady. “I just don’t understand why we have to have ranks at all. We’re not a famiglia, we’re a harmony. It doesn’t feel like it’s meant to be like this.”

“And what’s it meant to feel like Skull, since you have all the answers?”

_Love, trust, and eternal synchronization._

It shouldn’t have hit Skull as hard as it did, given that it was something he’d always known, something he’d always felt deep in his bonds. There was a hunger there, powerful and constant and needy - a vicious _want_ that some days threatened to consume him. The Arcobaleno wanted him like nothing else, like the soil wanted water and beasts wanted blood. 

But they didn’t love him.

“We’ve been together for so long,” Skull said weakly. “Don’t you care about me?”

The question seemed to catch Colonnello off-guard, causing him to rear back slightly. Skull took an unsteady breath, finally able to breathe without the other pressed so firmly into his space. He could still feel Lal’s keen gaze on him, quiet and contemplative as she watched from the sidelines.

“Maybe… I should go.” Skull made to slide out of the booth, but was blocked on both sides by the others who weren’t moving. “ _Guys_ -“

“Stay,” Lal said. Then, after a moment, “Please.”

Skull cautiously resettled in his seat, watching the both of them with uncertain eyes.

“If it means so much to you, stay with that clown cabal you call a family.” Lal ran a finger around the rim of her drink. “But, as your bondmate, I think you can do better.”

“… Thank you.”

The tension in the air was still palpable but Skull couldn’t help but feel relieved. He could take Colonnello’s ire far better than he could take the potential uprooting of his life.

* * *

 

One hour and many drinks later, the pressure in the air had finally begun to dissipate. Eventually Colonnello slapped a wad of cash on the table and announced he was bored. They wandered out of the lounge in the late hours of the night, apparently forgetting the existence of their limo in favor of taking to the streets on foot. The Rain must have had a built-in radar for finding dive bars, because that was where they wound up. 

Alcohol had never lasted very long in Skull’s system. The flames that were constantly active and saturating his cells tended to burn through most substances fairly quickly. After him, Lal was either a remarkable heavyweight or better at hiding her intoxication, as she kept her balance flawlessly in heels that most would struggle with sober.

Colonnello, though. When drunk he was twice as loud and obnoxious as usual, which was saying quite a lot. Skull took a seat in the corner, opting to watch as the Rain challenged (and robbed) every other patron at the pool table.

Lal stood idly beside him, her own Cloud flames mingling with his in a way that seemed conciliatory. 

“There are many things we have a hard time expressing with words,” Lal said calmly. “When you were made the Cloud Arcobaleno, many singled you out as the weak link. The civilian. We trained you for your safety. We killed those who would have tried to take you or use you against us.”

“I know.”

“Harmony is a fantasy, Skull. It’s not something we ever thought we’d have to do,” Lal said. She wasn’t looking at him, but staring firmly at the billiards table. “And relationships aren’t something we know how to do either. All we know is blood and lead.”

She turned to him, her cold eyes meeting his. “We are _not_ good people. Do you understand that?”

Skull chewed lightly on his lip. “… Yeah.”

“Caring about others is a weakness. It could cost you your life in this world.” She turned back to the game. “It’s not that we don’t care about you. It’s just our nature to prioritize the protection of our own selves first.”

“So what am I supposed to do?”

Lal leaned against the bar stool, ignorant or uncaring of how the other patron’s eyed her form.

“Refuse us. Challenge us. It’s in your right to do so,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s possible for us to become a true harmony, but no harm will come of you establishing your boundaries.”

“I understand what you’re saying,” Skull said, watching as Colonnello faced down an angry bar patron. “But I’m tired, Lal. I don’t know if I can wait.”

Wait for the Arcobaleno to unlearn whatever defensive, dog-eat-dog mentalities they’d had hammered into them from birth, wait to be appreciated, wait to be more than just _wanted_.

It had taken decades for Skull to admit it to himself, but staring down the barrel of the situation had made it clear for him: he wanted to be loved. 

Lal nodded slowly. “It’s your life. Viper left us. You could too. We can’t stop you.”

Skull greatly doubted that. If any word of this got back to Reborn…

His thoughts were cut short by the sound of shattering glass.

A jilted pool player had attempted to hit Colonnello with his glass, only for it to explode into shards against the wall. A split second later the unfortunate man was being bludgeoned with a pool cue.

“Leave it be,” Lal said coolly, as if Skull had even been thinking of getting in the middle of that. “He just needs to let off steam.”

“Don't tell me he brought us here so he could find someone to fight.”

“I hardly have to.”

As more joined in the situation quickly escalated into an all-out drunken brawl, which judging by the bartender’s apathy was not uncommon for the establishment. It was strangely gratifying to see Colonnello taking his frustrations out on other people, especially when it was Skull who’d made him upset in the first place.

All in all the fight couldn’t have lasted more than five minutes, but it still looked like a hurricane had passed through. Colonnello was standing amidst the glass, broken chairs and felled men, licking blood from his split knuckles. 

“Oi, Skull.” Colonnello pointed at him before gesturing for him to come closer. “Get over here.”

“Uh, I’d really rather no-“ Lal gave him a light shove, causing him to stumble forward a few paces.

Colonnello grasped the front of his shirt and pulled him in the rest of the way. His eyes, which were normally a dark sea blue, were suddenly crackling and alive with Rain flames. He smelled like whiskey and blood as he pressed a kiss forcefully to the corner of Skull’s mouth, causing the Cloud’s mind to temporarily blank out.

“Do not _ever_ call me weak again,” Colonnello said fiercely, hands still tightly bunched into Skull’s shirt. 

“Uh,” Skull cast a furtive glance in Lal’s direction. “You first?”

Colonnello’s gaze narrowed as he seemed to mull this over. “Hm.”

The grip on Skull’s shirt was released, causing him to falter back and nearly trip over an unconscious man.

“I’m drunk,” Colonnello announced, as if that detail were possible to miss. “Let’s get out of here.”

Lal placed a stack of apology money on the bar as Skull called their driver. Without the high of adrenaline to keep Colonnello upright, the other two had to help him into the limo. He was uncooperative and handsy, but after Lal slapped him he passed out pretty quickly. 

“This is a disaster,” Skull said, taking in his unconscious form sprawled over the seat.

“For him this is a pretty standard Saturday,” Lal said, checking her makeup in her compact. “... I won’t tell him or the others that you’re thinking of leaving us. I hope you’ll give me the same courtesy and let me know when you’ve made up your mind.”

That was a dangerous promise to make. 

“… Okay.”

“I just hope you know. Just as you are within your rights to leave, we are within our rights to try and get you back,” Lal said. “You’re our Cloud. We aren’t going to let you go so easily. Some of us more aggressively than others.”

Skull swallowed, but it did nothing to ease the lump in his throat.

Fair enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus trivia: as there isn’t an English equivalent for 'senpai' and I can’t imagine they speak Japanese by default, I wound up replacing it with miss/sir. I feel pretty certain that Skull uses deferential honorifics for the others no matter what language they’re using.


	4. Lightning

Skull had always rather liked London. It was the right kind of busy for him; an easy place to disappear into a crowd and just watch the various people go by. That was the position he found himself in one lazy afternoon, perched on a bench outside an art museum and sucking on a fruit pop. 

The car that slowly turned the corner grabbed his attention right away, his eyes narrowing in suspicion at its glossy chrome exterior. It was brandless, with no distinguishing features or identifiable commercial markings. The car came to a smooth stop on the curb a few feet from him. 

“Yeah,” Skull said, discarding his popsicle stick into the nearby bin. “I don’t think so.”

He continued down the sidewalk, pretending to be ignorant of the vehicle slowly stalking him. His phone dinged with a new text message.

GET IN THE CAR SKULL.

“No thanks.” 

Another ding.

IT IS TIME FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT.

“That sounds ominous as hell. I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”

CHECK YOUR PLANNER.

With a grumble Skull shuffled through the apps on his phone, coming to his personal schedule. There, jotted in for Friday at 4pm: Date with Verde.

“I didn’t write this.” 

I TOOK THE LIBERTY OF FREEING YOUR TIMETABLE.

GET IN THE CAR.

“You hacked my calendar. And scheduled yourself a date.”

THAT’S WHAT I SAID.

“You said _appointment_!” Skull exclaimed, uncaring about the strange looks he was attracting. “Those are two completely different things!” 

NOT TO ME.

The car noiselessly accelerated to keep pace at Skull’s side, the passenger door sliding open on its own.

“I am not getting in thaaugh-!“ A mechanical arm grasped him by the back of his collar and promptly yanked him inside, the door sweeping shut behind him. “Abduction! Stranger danger!”

Skull flailed upright on the sleek upholstery only to find himself alone in the vehicle. The car was apparently driving itself.

“ _There’s no need to be difficult._ ” Verde’s voice filtered from where the radio would have been. “ _I thought you_ liked _spontaneity._ ”

“Not in my kidnappings!” Skull snapped, jiggling the door handles to no avail. “Are these child locked?”

“ _I felt it was appropriate._ ”

Skull scowled. “And here I thought Spaniards were supposed to be _good_ at romance.”

The car suddenly braked, sending him careening chest-first against the dashboard.

 _“Oh, sorry. My finger slipped._ ”

* * *

 

Verde’s main lab was a multi-tiered fortress, overflowing with machinery and wiring, test tubes and microscopes and stacks upon stacks of books. It was a controlled chaos, organized in a way only known to the scientist himself. 

After being discarded on the doorstep by the automatic car, Skull allowed himself to be sullenly led deeper into the labyrinth by one of the Lightning’s scuttling little robots. As they took their third left turn in the impossible space that housed Verde’s research, something caught Skull’s eye. 

It was a cluttered study, and through the open door Skull could spy several papers pinned to the walls. Not schematics or data sheets, but haphazard drawings. Drawings that had clearly been done by a child.

“Oh.” Skull examined the crayon sketch of a familiar house, thumb rubbing over the name on the corner. 

 _Aria_. Verde had kept Aria’s old drawings. It shouldn’t have been a surprise; they’d all had a hand in raising that child. Still, what an unusually sentimental gesture.

The little robot had begun to hum impatiently on the floor, and Skull reluctantly let himself be pulled back down the hall.

A few minutes later he found Verde more or less as was to be expected: in a lab coat, jotting down notes on a clipboard with Keiman lazing in the corner.

“Ah, there you are.” He gestured towards the nearby table without looking up. “We’ll start with your weight and measurements, then move to your vitals.”

For a long moment Skull could only stare.

“…Excuse me?”

“It’s a handful of basic tests, Skull. You’re an adolescent boy with an inhuman physiology on the heels of an over forty-years-old curse. Be reasonable.”

"You're insane."

"Sanity is relative. Now are you going to cooperate, or are you truly afraid that I'll use your height to do you damage?"

 Verde gestured to the section of wall that was being used to track their heights. It was already marked various colored lines, with Skull’s gaze drawn to the yellow line at the 177cm mark.

“Reborn was here?”

“Hm.”

Reborn and Verde had always had a rather complicated relationship, with the Lightning never quite adhering to the Sun’s authority. While Verde didn’t have the strength to oppose Reborn in any direct way, he _did_ have just enough clout to get away with being an inconvenience at every opportunity.

 _“I never cared about the Rainbow Battle or lifting the curse. I just wanted to give Reborn a good scare._ ”

_“Yes, I sent the Optical Camouflage Troop to assassinate Tsunayoshi Sawada. It was funny, wasn’t it?”_

Petty moves and countermoves.

Skull gnawed on his lower lip. If the others had been here, at least it meant he wasn’t being singled out. If even Reborn had cooperated...

“No weird stuff. If you inject me with anything funny, I swear I’ll-“ Skull faltered. Verde’s brow raised in interest. “I’ll. Tell on you to Yuni.”

“Oh no,” The Lightning said dryly. “Anything but that.”

“Seriously Verde-“

“Your flaccid threats aside, I have no intention of doing you harm. The oath we made as Arcobaleno still stands.” Verde gestured into the lab. “So. Shall we stop wasting time?”

Skull hesitated. Verde had never made any secret about wanting to run tests or experiments on his person. More than once the Cloud had awoken in his bed at Arcobaleno Manor to find himself hooked up to sensors, and it wasn't uncommon for his bloody clothes to go missing the day after a particularly nasty injury. 

However the truth was that Verde  _had_ always abided by their vow. The Lightning had never actually done Skull harm.

“I’m already calling this as the worst date ever,” Skull grumbled as he shed his jacket. 

“The night’s young yet.”

Skull kicked off his shoes and grudgingly moved to stand against the wall ruler. “I was over six feet as an adult. I’m sure my next growth spurt will happen any day now.”

Verde pressed on his shoulders to keep him from rising onto his toes. “I remember you being six even, if that.” 

“You’re mistaken.”

“You also wore heeled boots.”

“Not all the time!”

“Well you’re at 168 centimeters now.” Verde said, making a note on his clipboard. “Four centimeters taller than Yuni. One below Viper. Congratulations.”

Still the shortest of the Seven. 

“Figures.”

Verde gestured with his clipboard to the steel table. “When you’re ready you can strip down and get on the table.”

“I can do what on the what?”

Verde looked at him as if he were a very slow child. “Which part confused you?”

“Sorry,” Skull laughed uncomfortably. “I just don’t usually take my clothes off until _after_ dinner.”

 Verde rolled his eyes. “I’m inclined to tell you that I’ve already heard literally every joke about ‘playing doctor’ in existence. So please do spare me.”

“Colonnello?”

“Colonnello. Don’t tell me you’re shy.”

“Well no, but…”

Skull didn’t bare his skin very often. Or ever, really. It was always protective leathers from his neck to his toes, underarmor underneath, helmet obscuring his face. Even at the beach it was full-body swimwear. He might have been (admittedly) a little bit vain, but he was also a professional athlete. Practical.

The removal of his shirt sent goosebumps across his skin, the ink of his tattoos a stark contrast with his pale complexion under the bright fluorescent lights. He could feel Verde’s contemplative gaze scanning over the runes and glyphs for what might have well been the first time despite all the years they’d known each other.

"Your body doesn't scar."

"No. Everything fades eventually."

"But not tattoos." Verde mused. "That implies your body can discern the difference."

Skull shrugged. He'd never really thought about it.

“Is this, ah, ethical?” He asked, shuddering as the cold of the table pressed against his thighs. “For you to act as my doctor when we’re. You know.”

“If you know of anyone else qualified to assess your aberration of a biology, I’d love to meet them.”

“Right…” Skull trailed off, watching anxiously as Verde adjusted gloves.

“You need to come closer.”

“Oka- _whoa,”_ Skull yelped as Verde grasped him by the calves and pulled him a few inches forward across the table. “Ha. Ha, okay. That’s fine, that-“

“Calm down.” Verde inserted the thermometer into Skull’s ear and waited for the reading. “You’re running warm. It’s not unusual for flame actives.”

“I feel fine.”

“Mm. Do you remember the last time you had a fever?” Verde asked.

“It’s been a while, but it does happen. Not often, but I’m not immune to getting sick,” Skull said.

“Interesting.” Verde pressed the stethoscope to Skull’s back. “Breathe. Have you been vaccinated?”

“Sure. Yes. Please don’t inject me with anything.” 

“Killjoy.”

* * *

 

“Worst. Date. Ever.”

“I think you’re being a little harsh. I made you dinner.”

Skull frowned but couldn’t argue the point. The pair of them were now sat at a candle-lit table, a full meal arranged between them. It was genuinely impressive, really.

The ambiance was just somewhat hard to appreciate when Skull had a bag of Type B hooked into his arm via an IV. 

“So I was a little overzealous with the blood draw,” Verde said, pouring himself a glass of wine. “I apologized. You’ll be fine.”

“What do you even need all that blood for!?” Skull demanded with a kick to the other man's chair.

“It’ll be beneficial to assess your cell activity for abnormalities,” Verde said airily. “What’s so devious about that?”

“Well excuse me for being a little distressed. You’re not the first guy to exploit me for my body, but the whole mad science angle is a new one.”

“I am aware of the Golden Ratio present in your features, Skull.” Verde said, face propped in his hand and watching him with amusement. “Although it is hardly the most interesting thing about you.”

“Is that right.”

“You don’t even know, do you? My, they have been keeping you in the dark.” 

Skull's eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What are you talking about.”

Verde smiled in faux innocence. “I bet it was Reborn’s doing. He’s always been _so_ intent on you. And of course the others always follow his lead.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Do you really want to know? They say knowledge is a burden. Not that I’ve ever noticed.”

“Quit screwing around!” Skull snapped, hands strangling the armrests of his chair. “If you’ve got something to say just tell me!”

“You drive us all _crazy_ , Skull.” The touch on his knee made him jump, but Verde’s grip was firm. “Nothing about you makes sense. A civilian who became one of the Seven without even trying, without even knowing what he was.”

“Is this about my flames?” Skull asked warily. It always was: the Cloud essence that was his saving grace in the mafia world.

“There’s never been anything like it,” Verde said. “Do you know what it’s like for us to be bound to you? How it feels? How _you_ feel?”

“I…” Skull didn’t know what to say. 

“And then there’s you as a person. The world’s most powerful Cloud who barely acts like a Cloud at all. Shining your emotions all over the damn place, always so _responsive_ and eager to attach to every scrap of attention you’re given.”

“You’re not making that sound very flattering,” Skull said, heat beginning to rise in his face.

“Only because you don’t understand,” Verde said. “Everyone in this community is starved for trust and stability, Skull. They’re desperate for it, but can’t admit it for fear of admitting weakness. Then in comes you: a beacon emanating everything we could want. An endless supply of Cloud flames with innate submissive tendencies, too weak to hurt us and just stupid enough to manipulate.”

“That’s not- I’m not-“ Skull spluttered, pushing the hand off his knee. “Fuck you!”

“Don’t shoot the messenger. Not that you would,” Verde said, untroubled. “That’s half the point. You’re _safe_ , Skull. Safe enough to trust, because no matter how vulnerable we let ourselves become around you, you will always be even weaker. The only way you could ever hurt us is by leaving, and god knows everyone has done their damnedest to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Why… why are you telling me this.” Skull felt like he was underwater, his head spinning from more than just blood loss. 

“Hm. Interesting question.” Verde sipped his wine. “Maybe it’s because I’ve never been bothered with what the other Arcobaleno do or where you go. Maybe it’s that I finally took pity on you.”

He set his glass down, green eyes sharp and sparking with electricity.

“Or maybe I just want to see Reborn really squirm for once.”  

Skull clambered to his feet, forgetting the IV connected to his arm and nearly toppling over. In a flash Verde was at his side, steadying him with impossibly strong hands. From their point of contact he could feel electricity coursing between them, Lightning flames running up and down their bonds in energized ripples.

“You are beautiful, Skull - and in the only way that actually matters.” Verde pulled the needle from his arm, causing the Cloud to wince. “A truly incredible specimen. Irreplaceable.”

The word caused something to short out in Skull’s brain. Of course all of the Arcobaleno were irreplaceable - they were bound so tight for so long that exchanging any one of them was unthinkable. And yet, somehow, Skull had always felt like an imposter. Like he was on thin ice, having to constantly prove his worth and his right to be in the Seven.

Irreplaceable? Really?

“Y-you’re just trying to butter me up for more of my blood,” Skull said shakily.

“Actually, I could do with your bone marrow. If you’re offering.”

Skull laughed humorlessly, a hollowed out crater now taking space in his chest. “You act like you don’t care about anything or anyone. But I know that you still have Aria’s old things. I bet you’ve been sending money to those Kokuyo kids who represented you in the Rainbow Battle. You’re just as scared of being hurt as everybody else, and it’s why you keep pushing us away and surrounding yourself with machines instead.”

“Is that what you think?” Verde asked, eyes going cold.

“I’m not stupid, Verde. I understand people, and I know you. When Aria disappeared, she came here didn’t she? You took care of her.”

“I eased her passing.”

“That must have been hard.”

Verde's jaw was tight. “She was our Sky. I did my duty.”

“You loved her. We all did. We watched her grow up but you had to watch her die,” Skull said. He had his hands on Verde’s wrists now, sending Cloud flames through their touch in kind. “She must have trusted you a lot.”

“Skull-“

“It hurts, right? Caring. It hurts more than anything.” The atmosphere was practically crackling with the charge generated between them, the smell of ozone in the air. “And that’s what’s apparently got everyone so fucking scared. So is that your angle- making me hate the others, or driving me away yourself so I can’t blindside you with it? Does it help, to see it coming? Because we saw Aria’s death coming a long ways away Verde-“

“That’s enough.” Verde wrenched himself out of Skull’s grasp, flames flashing in the air.

They said nothing for a minute, the silence between them was tense and unstable.

"... You tried to save her," Skull said slowly, realization dawning on him. "You tried to save her and she died anyway."

Verde had his back to him, rubbing his wrists where Skull had touched them. “I don’t care what you do any more than I ever did. Stay as the Arcobaleno’s dog forever or go, it makes no difference to me.”

Skull didn’t stay for dessert. He left the lab, trembling and racked with chills as he stepped into the night air outside. London glittered around him, the sun having long since set. 

A characteristically British sheet of grey clouds now coated the sky, and in the distance was the low rumble of thunder.

* * *

 

**~PARIS 1973~**

They were out there. 

Skull could feel them moving, prowling, searching for him. Like wolves baring their fangs to scent the air, hunting night and day.

_Where are you where are you where-_

He clapped his hands over his ears but it didn’t work. For the past several weeks he’d been plagued by thoughts and feelings that weren’t his, foreign memories invading his troubled dreams. Last night he’d seen himself gut a man with a utility knife, spilling his blood across a poker table. The night before that, he’d watched an entire dinner party weep and choke as they slowly succumbed to poison.

He couldn’t sleep anymore. He couldn’t risk seeing more blood on his hands. Couldn’t bear another alien memory of smelling gunpowder and smoke and feeling _alive_ as destruction and chaos reigned around him.

Skull wasn’t above a little bit of criminal activity. The circus he’d run with as a teenager hadn’t been completely on the up and up, and he wasn’t exactly a legal immigrant either. He had driven getaway cars, used parkour to break into high-rise buildings, used his immortality to tank damage for others. He was damn good stuntman and had used his skills to steal plenty of times before, smuggled and honey trapped. Nothing serious, nothing organized, but when Checker Face approached him with a job he hadn’t thought much of it. 

“ _You may have to work with some… less savory individuals,_ ” The strange man had said, underselling it by oceanic margins. 

“ _That’s not my business,_ ” is what Skull had replied. He could do his job, get paid and look the other way while these others did… whatever it was they had to do.

Arrogant, greedy. Stupid. 

And it had all gone wrong.

The bizarre phantom tugging in Skull’s chest ebbed and flowed. Sometimes it was just an itch; a tingle that reminded him of guitar strings being plucked. Other times it was pure agony - like fishhooks embedded into a nameless place at the center of him, _pulling_ as if attempting to mercilessly reel him in. 

At that moment it was somewhere in between. Firm and frustrated tugs, uncomfortable to endure but not yet painful. Skull buried his face in his hands. His body felt too small, the world around him too big, but at least he was alone.

Once gaining their own bearings the others had been terribly diligent, watching him around the clock. Whispering to one another about him, making plans for his future like he wasn’t right there. Skull hadn’t wanted any part in it, just wanted to wake up and have this whole thing be a terrible dream.

It had been two weeks since he’d fled the CEDEF headquarters. If it hadn’t been for the distraction caused by Viper’s latest outburst, he probably wouldn’t have managed the escape. It was still a struggle - his child’s body couldn’t mount a motorcycle or operate a car, and he’d had to spin ludicrous lies to convince a cabbie to drive him without an adult attendant.

A knock on the motel door shook Skull from his reverie. He looked down with horror and saw that his Pacifier (a strange thing, purely made of violet crystal with proportions that didn’t look much like a pacifier at all) was glowing. 

They found him. He knew they would, they had to eventually, but there was still a surge of blind panic in his chest. He grabbed the bowl that currently housed Oodako, no larger than a guppy. Formerly a giant octopus with no special abilities beyond that which Skull had taught him during their circus days, the beast had also been changed, somehow, by the curse. The creature’s newfound power to change size at least made him more portable, with Skull tucking the bowl under his arm and making for the window.

He had one leg slung over the edge when the gentle knocking sounded once more.

“Skull,” a voice called softly. “I just want to talk. Please let me in.”

He froze, risks and probabilities running through his mind.

Luce was kind. Luce was psychic. Luce was in love with Reborn. Was she safe? Could she be trusted?

“It’s only me. I haven’t told the others where you are.”

 _Not yet_ cycled darkly in Skull’s ears. But something warm was flickering in his chest, a particular brilliant orange chord being gently played. He didn’t understand or know why, but something made it impossible to refuse. With a defeated sigh, he pulled himself back inside and placed Oodako's bowl on the nearby desk. 

It was still a shock to open the door and see the two-year-old version of a woman he’d known.

“Thank you,” Luce said, her eyes so soft and sincere it almost hurt.

“I’m not going back,” were the first words out of Skull’s mouth. “I can’t.”

Luce looked at him with sad sympathy. “I know it’s not easy Skull. The beginning is always the hardest, but we can get through this together. The eight of us.”

“I don’t _want_ to get through it,” Skull said desperately, hands clutching the doorframe. “I don’t want any of this.”

He hadn’t even known what he was getting into, what he was agreeing to, it wasn’t _fair_. Even the others who were so much more worldly and informed, had been blindsided.

Apparently previous incarnations of the Arcobaleno had been something of a secret society - fabled and legendary, the mafia world’s own Illuminati. Impossible jobs or feats of incredible skill would be attributed to their brand, but the members themselves had been faceless. Now they knew why. 

Luce cupped his face, her hands seemingly radiating warmth and safety. “None of us wanted this. Not you, not me. Not my daughter. But sometimes we are called upon by a higher purpose, and we don’t get a choice.”

Skull tried to blink the tears from his eyes. “Your daughter. Is she…”

“She’s fine. My family is helping me tend to her,” Luce said with a wry smile. “Would you like to meet her?”

“I…”

“It’s not safe for you to be alone out here, Skull.”

He knew that. He still remembered watching from a bloody warehouse corner as Reborn and Lal butchered over a dozen of his kidnappers. It was after that incident that they announced he needed to come to the CEDEF and be trained.

“ _Please let me go,_ ” he’d begged, bruised and sore and refusing to take another step.

“ _Go where?_ ” Reborn had asked, looking down on him coldly. “ _You can’t care for yourself in that state. There’s nowhere to run, Skull. So get up._ ”

“You’re our Cloud.” Luce’s voice cut into his thoughts, her words heavy with affection. Everyone kept calling him that, their Cloud, and the title clearly meant more than he could understand. “Please don’t be afraid of me.”

Skull was so tired of being afraid. Tired of feeling unmoored, like the slightest breeze could blow him away or disperse him into dust, like he’d never existed at all. 

Luce extended her hand. Skull took it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the prose is a little rough. Next chapter should also be a bit more eventful.  
> So I headcanon the canon events of KHR as having taken place from 2007 to 2008. This fic takes place a few years later, around 2014 when Yuni (and thus the other Arcobaleno) are 17. Tsuna would be about 21 at this point, for reference.


	5. Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After final exams and holiday madness I have returned, with a new chapter. This one's a touch dialogue heavy. I'll probably edit it a bit more later tonight, but I just wanted to get it out after such a long wait.

Skull had just been checking Oodako’s tank when the call came in. His airship wasn’t especially large: most of the space was allocated to the cockpit and engine room, with the living quarters on his ship roughly equivalent to a small studio. Oodako currently resided in a converted storage area, and making sure the octopus was comfortable enough for extended travel was always a big priority.

Skull pressed the button on his helmet that answered the in-built call system before continuing to tinker with the water temperature.

“Hello?” 

 _“Hello Skull. Yuni tells me that you’ve just finished your business in Russia._ ”

Fon. That was somewhat unexpected. The Storm was usually busy to the point of being nigh unreachable, rarely leaving China except for Arcobaleno-related business.

“Yeah, I’m just departing Novosibirsk now,” Skull said, watching Oodako swim in a swirl of bubbles and orange tentacles. “Was in Moscow all of last week as well trying to smooth things over for the Simon.”

It had been years since teenage Adelheid had slaughtered the Giegue Famiglia, but no one had really forgotten. After the Simon had made such a scene at the Inheritance Ceremony, Skull’s task had been to spin it as a reason for other families to want them as allies instead of enemies.

  “It was a close call, but I think it went well,” Skull said as he made his way to the helm. He had decent pull in Russia and the Vongola had pull everywhere. “If the Neo Primo isn’t bothered by the Simon’s transgressions, no one else is really going to be. Not loudly anyway.”

 _“Your work is done then?_ ”

“I guess so. I was thinking I’d head down to Japan and tell Enma the news in person.”

_“I see. If you wouldn’t mind the diversion, I’m in Hong Kong at the moment. It seems a shame not to meet if you’re free to travel.”_

“Oh.” Skull blinked. “Well. Alright. Seeing Enma isn’t too urgent so… That’s fine.”

_“I’m glad to hear it. I look forward to seeing you, Skull.”_

“See you.”

For a minute Skull lingered in the doorway of the cockpit. His relationship with Fon wasn’t a bad one. They got along, communicating and working together decently well. They just never seemed to… understand one another. Their personalities were like night and day, and there’d never been the time nor motivation to try bridging the gap.

“Well this should be interesting,” Skull sighed as he initiated the engine.

* * *

 

Skull’s Cantonese was worse than his Mandarin, but Hong Kong being easier for foreigners to navigate than most places on the mainland made up for it. He docked his ship, checked into a hotel, fed his octopus. Waited for word from Fon, who was so well-connected that he was undoubtedly aware of every move Skull made since setting foot on Chinese soil.

Word finally came in the form of a knock on his door at around noon time. Skull turned off the tv he’d been half-watching and clambered to the door.

Fon looked about the same as he had the last time they’d met - tall and mild mannered and ambiguously in his late teens. 

“Hello Skull. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

“Uh, no. It’s fine. I know you usually have a lot going on so…” Skull shrugged.

He was never really sure how to act around Fon. The man didn’t demand the same gestures of submission or obedience like the others, but Skull knew there was more to him than his pleasant demeanor. There was steel underneath, as well as a quiet but absolute confidence in his power that made Skull want to instinctively roll over. Fon was an alpha with nothing to prove and no sadism to express, but he was still an apex predator. A carnivore. 

“I’ve been trying to make more time lately for the people in my life,” Fon said. “And you can be rather elusive yourself.”

“Oh. Well I like to… keep busy…” He practically winced as the blatant lie settled between them. 

Skull did not like to be busy. He liked to be as far out of the other Arcobaleno’s way as he could manage. 

Fon smiled like one would do when trying not to spook a small animal. “Of course. I’m honored that you were willing to make time. If you’d like, I could show you around the city. It’s a rather nice day.”

“Yeah. That sounds good.”

And it was good, really. Once they got into the swing of things. 

Skull had never really done awkward. He’d never have gotten anywhere in the mafia if he let anxiety stop him. Being sociable may not have been as impressive as being a master assassin, but it was what he was good at: talking and warming the atmosphere of a room was his survival technique. He hadn’t evolved to fight predators off, but rather to endear them into not wanting him dead in the first place. Getting people’s trust, if not necessarily their respect, was still a powerful thing.

So Skull swallowed his discomfort as if it didn’t exist at all, smiling and relaxing his body language. Fon was fine with letting Skull guide the conversation, and filling silence came as easy as breathing. He chatted about the Carcassa, about the Simon, about things he’d heard in Russia. 

Meanwhile Fon took him to see the city the way only a longtime local could. The best vendors and stores, the exclusive side entrances to attractions that tourists would never be able to see. As he diligently explained the history and notability of each neighborhood they passed through, it became very obvious very quickly that in many places Fon’s reputation preceded him, from the friendly shopkeeps to the patrolling officers that diligently avoided eye contact.

Things came to a head when they settled in to eat dinner. 

The place Fon chose looked like a hole in the wall, but the food was better than most upscale restaurants. Skull was in the middle of recounting his attempt at teaching Enma to drive when the door of the establishment opened and shut with a slam.

He sighed, pushing his glass away. “If I turn around am I going to see three armed thugs behind me?”

“Five, actually.” Fon replied pleasantly. “I apologize. I did hope this wouldn’t happen today.”

“Friends of yours?”

“Secondhand acquaintances. I won’t bore you with the local politics.”

The other restaurant patrons were hushed, most staying deathly still and trying to make themselves small to avoid attention. The leader of the posse stomped forward, his stained shirt displaying the tangle of tattoos inked across his arms.

He barked something at Fon, his words drenched in impenetrably thick accent on top of a more obscure dialect. Skull could read the aggressive tone well enough however. Fon’s response was curt and unruffled but only made the man angrier. Skull wondered if it would be inappropriate to keep eating as the exchange escalated.

Not even a second after the intruder brandished a long knife, the distinctive _crack_ of breaking bone was heard. Skull stifled a wince as a shout of pain sounded through the restaurant. 

He had seen Fon fight before, moving in ways that barely seemed human. He was fast and merciless, so far removed from the placid kindness he usually displayed. Fon rarely used flames, never really had to, but Skull had witnessed it once or twice before. 

It was easily one of the most beautiful and terrifying things he’d ever seen.

Another thug hit the ground so hard the restaurant’s walls shook. Skull looked up from his dinner to see three men on the ground, unmoving. The fourth had been launched out the flimsy front door, snapping it clear off the hinges to lie prone in the street. The fifth had wisely chosen to run.

“Are they dead?” Skull asked, putting his glass down.

“Don’t trouble yourself with such things.” Fon placed an excessive number of bills on the table before taking Skull by the hand and guiding him from his chair. “But it’s probably best if we take our leave now.”

“Right…”

* * *

 

They walked down winding back streets for a while, eventually coming to a collection of street vendors. Fon had just purchased them some lo mai chi when his phone pinged with a new message. He looked at his screen, typing a response with a slight frown.

Maybe it was a manifestation of his own paranoia, but Skull couldn’t help but feel the twinge of something foreboding. “Everything okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yes. It seems that today’s incident has informed my niece that you’re in town,” Fon said, sounding slightly apologetic. “She’s invited us to come have dinner with her and her son tomorrow night.”

“Oh. Dinner with. With your family.” Skull tried and failed not to shift uncomfortably. “Wow.”

Fon was, as far as Skull knew, the only one of the others to have living family. Living family that he was actually in _contact_ with no less.

“I know it’s short notice but you shouldn’t be nervous,” Fon said. “My niece has actually been scolding me about not introducing you sooner. She’s only ever met Reborn, and that was many years ago.”

Skull had never met, let alone had dinner with a partner’s family before. His relationships had never been that long-lived or serious. This was supposed to be a big deal, right?

“Uh huh.” He was still a bit blanked out. “I guess it would be rude to say no?” 

“She’d be very disappointed.”

It was an incredibly polite way of saying ‘she would be gravely insulted and probably hire someone to shoot you for it’ but Skull didn’t miss Fon’s meaning.

“I can pick you up tomorrow evening and we’ll go to her home together.”

Somehow having dinner at the family house seemed so much more serious and intimate than going out to a restaurant. His anxiety must have been showing in his eyes, because Fon placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

“Everything will be fine,” he said. “My niece is a reasonable woman. And you have always had such a way with people.” 

“I suppose if she’s anything like you, it should be alright…” Skull said. 

Something in Fon’s expression flickered, but it was gone so quickly it may have been imagined. “I’ll escort you back and see you tomorrow.”

* * *

 

 Skull didn’t get much sleep that night, instead lying awake in a state of quiet panic. He debated over removing his piercings or scrubbing off his nail polish, if his purple waistcoat was too much. 

He may not have had a lot of experience in this arena, but he knew that no respectable family wanted one of their own to bring… well, someone like him home. And Fon’s family may have been born and bred criminals but they _were_ respectable, especially by mafia standards. The Triad in Hong Kong was more organized than most police forces, and anyone related to Fon had to be at the top of the food chain. 

This was a terrible idea. 

By the time Fon came to collect him, Skull had already gone through the seven stages of grief. 

“Do I, uh. Look alright?” Skull asked, tugging on the lavender button-up he’d paired with dark slacks. “Should I wear a tie?”

“You look fine. Don’t be concerned,” Fon said calmingly. “My niece and her son already know what you're like.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Fon had just smiled at him in that innocuous way before leading him to the car. 

His niece lived on the island, outside the city in a neighborhood called The Peak. The stately home was situated in the green hills overlooking the nearby urban spires. A ridiculously beautiful house in the most expensive neighborhood in the world.

Skull was already running the numbers on just how in over his head he was, and the calculations weren’t looking good. 

“Please try to relax,” Fon said, looking somewhere between concerned and amused. “There's no cause for fear.”

Skull choked on a laugh. “I’m not afraid. Who’s afraid? Don’t be ridiculous. This is fine. I’m fine.”

“Good,” Fon said, as if he’d bought a single word. “Shall we?”

They ascended the path to the front steps, Fon keeping a hand on Skull’s elbow as if aware that the Cloud might bolt at any moment. There was nothing to worry about. He’d been to formal dinners and meetings before, there was no reason this had to be any different. 

“Wait,” Skull said, pausing at the doorstep. “When you say your niece and her son-“

As if on cue the front door opened, spilling light across the front step.

Kyouya Hibari had been intimidating enough as a kid, but now at 23 years of age the effect was even more pronounced. Standing at around 6 feet tall, he looked disconcertingly similar to how Fon had before the curse.

He honed in on Skull like a hawk, gaze icy and predatory. The Vongola Cloud ring glinted on his finger.

“Kyouya,” Fon said in greeting. “You look well. I trust your mother told you we were coming?”

Hibari's eyes flickered between them as if wondering if he could get away with slamming the door shut again. Finally he gave a curt nod and stepped aside to let them through, displeasure written clearly on his face. Skull had half hoped he’d bar them entry.

This was going to be a profoundly long night.

* * *

 

Fon's niece was an elegant woman in her late forties, with sharp features but a courteous manner. There was something Fon-like in her smile, however hers never quite met her eyes. In them Skull could practically see the cold steel hiding beneath the pleasantry.

She had welcomed them warmly and insisted on being called Lian, assuring Skull that such casual address was only appropriate given the true age difference between them and his relationship with her uncle. He complied without protest, if only because he could tell it wasn’t a request.

“It’s an honor to finally meet another of my uncle’s bondmates,” Lian said, sitting at the head of the table. “After all these years you’d think he was hiding you away.”

“I can’t imagine why,” Hibari said wryly. 

He didn’t say it very loudly however, and at his mother’s warning gaze he looked down in deference. It seemed that as with most men, Hibari's mother still had a power over him.

“Now that things are more settled within the Arcobaleno, I would like to make you more familiar with my family,” Fon said to Skull. “It seems only proper to do so.”

“And you began with the Cloud. Impressive. In my experience they are rather hard to get a hold of,” Lian said, not acknowledging the way Hibari’s shoulders tensed. 

“Skull travels often, but I did manage to catch him between tasks,” Fon said. 

“Travel?” Lian tilted her head inquisitively. It was calculated, like every other movement of hers. “How interesting. My son is practically allergic to the word.”

“Kyouya is attached to his territory, as you are to yours Lian,” Fon said, earning a cold look from Hibari despite the defense. Apparently the man didn’t appreciate others speaking for him.

Lian sipped her wine with a thoughtful look in her eyes. “And do you have a territory of your own, Skull? Where do you call home?”

“I. I have a room at the Arcobaleno estate,” Skull said. “Mostly I stay on my ship. I don’t settle in any one place for long.”

“I see. And you hail from…?”

“Norway. But I haven’t been there in a long time.”

“Ah, I thought your features were unique. And do you have family there?”

“Not... really.”

She stoically raised a brow. “Not really?”

“I mean,” Skull swallowed uncomfortably. “I’m not sure.”

He felt stripped bare under Lian’s gaze, as if she could see him and all his weakness in perfect clarity. For a short moment he felt very much like prey being scoped out by a hunter. Then the moment passed and the warm affect returned, with the conversation shifting elsewhere. Skull was too on edge to be relieved.

He caught Hibari’s eye across the table, the Cloud Guardian looking at him with an aloof but knowing expression that sent chills down his spine.

* * *

 

“You fared better than I might have expected.”

Skull flinched hard from his place on the back terrace, the chilled air cooling his nerves. Fon and Lian were inside somewhere, probably discussing Triad matters.

Hibari was leaning on the terrace doorframe, calmly adjusting his cufflinks. 

“Well, it’s not like I expected your mother to poison me or anything.”

“My mother rarely has use for poison. If she found you disagreeable, she’d have slit your throat outright.” 

“Was that a possibility?” Skull asked nervously.

“Anything is a possibility.” Hibari surveyed him for a moment. “But no. My mother may reign over this region but she still defers to my great-uncle. As his bonded you are…”

“Don’t say safe.”

The corner of Hibari’s mouth twitched in something like humor. “There is no such thing as safety. Least of all for a lone scavenger who keeps no territory.”

Again with the animal metaphors. Between the talk of territory and food chains, it reminded Skull eerily of the mafia’s primal pack-mentality.

“Out of curiosity, where exactly do I fit in this philosophy of yours?”

“It is not a philosophy but the way of the world,” Hibari said impatiently. “The strong survive, the weak are fodder.”

“And I’m weak.”

“Weakness is relative. Even prey has evolved to enhance its survival. They are aware of their limitations and adapt to navigate them.” Hibari idly thumbed the silver Box ring on his other hand, the one that resembled a hedgehog. “You are skittish and fretful, like most herbivores, because you are wise enough to know the dangers. And in your own strange way, you have adapted.”

“I can’t tell if you’re insulting me or not.”

“You can take the truth as you will.”

Skull frowned.

“I bother you, don’t I.”

“You flatter yourself.”

“I'm sure it’s not personal. I just annoy you. You don’t like that an herbivore has a stronger Cloud flame than you do.” Skull winced, as he usually did when things spilled out of his big mouth sounding worse than they had in his head. “But uh. You shouldn’t be bothered. Double types always burn a little less bright than pure types. It evens out.”

Hibari's dangerous gaze shifted somewhat. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re dual-wielding. There’s Mist in you.”

“And how exactly do you know that.”

Skull shrugged helplessly. “I know what Cloud flames feel like. I’ve been bound in harmony for so long I know what they all feel like, really.”

Clouds were natural sponges. Each color on the spectrum had a distinct flavor, and Skull had been tasting them for over forty years. 

Hibari’s expression was unreadable, and Skull tried valiantly not to squirm under the force of his stare.

“You are a _bizarre_ creature," he said finally. "The Darwinist chain of events that produced you are beyond my speculation.” 

Skull could only shrug once more. He was getting that a lot lately.

* * *

 

“Your family hates me.”

The drive back to the hotel was a long one, but preferable to spending the night at the family house. Lian had offered, but Fon had been merciful and declined on Skull’s behalf.

“That’s not so,” Fon said. “In fact my niece called you ‘refreshing and strangely endearing’.”

“She thinks I’m homeless and don’t care about family.”

“Technically she’s not entirely wrong.”

“I am not-“ Skull sighed. “I know family is really important to you. It’s obvious, and I admire what you have. But I left home really young and I never regretted it. I hadn’t had contact with any relatives for years even _before_ the curse. Blood isn’t… it’s not everything.”

“I know. I don’t think less of you for that.” Fon wouldn’t pry. He wasn’t the type. “You must have had strong reasons for doing so, especially since I have seen firsthand how much you’re willing to forgive.”

“Well ‘forgive’ is a bit of a strong word,” Skull grumbled.

“Yes…” Fon hummed thoughtfully. “Clouds are an interesting breed. Very resilient. Always so detached from the rest of us, as if nothing touches you. I always wondered how much of that was for show.”

“More than you’d think,” Skull said. “But probably less than you’d hope.”

“That’s what I figured.” 

“Speaking of, I won’t be gaining Hibari’s favor anytime soon.”

“Don’t mind him. He probably finds you a bit confusing,” Fon said. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the organization he’s putting together to research Box Weapons.”

“The Foundation. I’ve heard of it.” He also vaguely remembered something about it from the alternate future. “What’s that to do with me?”

“You possess the strongest Cloud flame in the world. Kyouya finds this hard to reconcile with some other notions he has,” Fon said. “Moreover, he probably didn’t appreciate having you bear witness to his personal life, especially his relationship with his mother. It's something he'll have to get used to, however.”

“Because you’ll be bringing the Arcobaleno around more often, you said.”

“I have kept these two spheres of my life separate for a very long time. I’m not sure which aspect of myself I was trying to protect from the other… if I was sheltering my bondmates from the complications in my family, or vice versa. I suppose it no longer matters.” Fon waved the thought aside. “At any rate, Kyouya can be a little defensive regarding family.” 

“I guessed as much. Is there a reason, or…?”

“Oh,” Fon said easily. “It’s probably because he’s illegitimate.”

Skull faltered. He felt as if he had strayed down a road he wasn’t meant to be on, hearing things he wasn’t meant to know.

“It was a bit of a scandal at the time. Or it would have been, but we managed to keep it discreet. Kyouya’s father was already married, you see.” Fon spoke so casually, but Skull could tell there was a metal lining to his words.

He wasn’t sure what to say. Maybe there was nothing he could say.

“He did the honorable thing and accepted Kyouya as his heir, but as a stipulation required that the child grow up in Namimori. The family is directly descended from the warlords that ruled that area, and they still have total control over the town,” Fon said. “I convinced my niece to accept the deal.”

“You sound conflicted.”

Fon smiled ruefully. “The upbringing was hardly ideal. His father made sure he was taken care of, whilst living elsewhere with a woman who is not Kyouya’s mother. The boy was sent away like a shameful secret to a town that he had total dominion over from a young age. Don’t you think it had an impact on his psyche?”

“Ah. Well.” Skull rubbed his neck awkwardly. “When you put it like that…”

“Still. Namimori is a good place. And I suppose I wanted to give the boy more of a choice than his mother had gotten regarding this life,” Fon said. “It’s all been for the best anyway. He has no interest in the Triad after all.”

“And now he’s the Vongola Cloud Guardian.”

Fon seemed to brighten. “I didn’t expect him to find harmonization... or to form many positive relationships in general. It is a good outcome.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes, Skull's thoughts still whirring anxiously in his head.

"Is there a reason you asked me to come instead of the others? I'm sure Lal or Verde would have made a better impression."

"At the meeting, you said you were unhappy in our harmony." Fon nodded solemnly. "I do understand why. Over the years we have not maintained our relationship as well as we should."

"I guess."

"Harmony and pack dynamics are a bit different in the West compared to what I was taught. We also have hierarchy, but how we manage it is not the same. In regards to our in-groups, we prefer to circumvent interpersonal conflict whenever possible. Whereas with the others, I've observed that confrontation is their primary means of communication," Fon said. "Your weakness does not detract from your value to me. Weakness is itself a contentious thing to define - I don't mean it in a derogatory manner."

"I know." Skull thought back to Hibari, who loved and saw strength in all animals, not just the carnivores. Weakness was relative.

"As my bondmate you're one of the most important people in my life. I apologize for not expressing that with clarity in the past."

Skull wasn't sure how to respond, so he just went with the truth. "It's still hard sometimes to accept all of this. One minute I was just me, accepting a job, and then... Honestly the infancy was the _mild_ part of the curse. Having seven people hooked up to my soul, saying they own me? And then everyone in the world saying they're _right_? That was too much."

"Their methods were a bit harsh, I admit. But is belonging such a terrible concept?"

"I don't know." Skull shifted in his seat. "I guess it depends. Belonging and ownership aren't exactly the same."

 _You're valuable because you're ours, you're ours because you're valuable_. Round and round in circles. It wasn't enough.

"I don't want to be treated like the runt, but I don't want to be smothered either," Skull said. "It's like they can't decide if they want to kick me around or put me in a gilded cage 'for my own good'. It's not fair."

"Perhaps you should consider exactly what it is you _do_  want," Fon said. "And then let us know."

"Like the others would listen. They've been making plans for me from the start."

"You weren't in the position to make plans for yourself. Now you are," Fon said. "Power over your life should be yours to take, Skull. Same as anyone."

They crossed the bridge, lights from the city sparkling before them. All the while Skull mulled over those words and wondered how much of it was safe to believe.


	6. Sun

There had always been something vaguely feral about the Simon children. It was in the way they tended to and tussled with one another, like stray dogs nipping at each other’s flanks. It was in how quick they were to bare their teeth at any and all outsiders, having raised each other on the fringes of a society that discarded them.

Of course they weren’t exactly children anymore. Enma had grown from a quiet, sad-eyed teenage boy to a somber but steady-handed young man. Discomfort still clung to the 21-year-old like a second skin, but the mettle that had once inspired him to stand up to the entire Vongola had grown with the rest of him, reinforcing him with a core of steel. However despite the blood on his hands it was often hard to think of Enma as anything other than young and innocent. 

Things had improved for the family in recent years, ever since they’d aged up enough to access their parents’ inheritance. Their friendship with the Vongola Guardians was a great asset, especially since their introduction to the mafia world had been so violent and memorable.  They also had an Arcobaleno as their patron, and if there was one thing everyone seemed to understand, it was that you didn’t mess around with one of the Seven’s toys.

“That being said, you probably shouldn’t go to Russia anytime soon,” Skull said, sprawled lazily across the Simon’s living room floor. “The Giegue were kind of a big deal.”

“Really? They didn’t die like one.” Adelheid idly stirred her tea from the dining table. 

Skull winced. “They were also loyal allies to the Vongola, whose inheritance ceremony you publicly wrecked. Some people are still a little annoyed you never got punished for that.”

“If everyone who tried to kill Tsunayoshi was punished for it, he’d have no allies at all,” Adelheid said airily. “I’d swear it’s the only way he knows how to make friends.”

“We don’t rely on the Vongola’s protection,” Enma said, fixated on the scruffy kitten he was petting. Another stray, undoubtedly. “But I do appreciate the support. Yours too, Skull.”

“Just try to stay out of trouble, if you can.” 

“Hm.” Enma’s gaze flicked up for a moment, flashing ruby eyes that had seen too much. “It’s good to see you. I know Namimori is a bit out of your way.”

“Oh, well.” Skull laughed uncomfortably. “It’s not that I don’t want to visit you more often. It’s just-“

“You’re afraid of seeing Reborn,” Adelheid finished.

Skull choked. “I’m not _afraid._ ”

“So it’s merely convenient timing that Reborn has gone to Italy for the week.”

“I had no idea.”

Adelheid cast him a skeptical look from over her mug.

“Skull,” Enma said carefully. “Has something been bothering you? You’ve been tense.”

“Ah…” Skull shifted. “I’m not sure if I should… it’s a bit… okay. You see, sometimes when you’ve been harmonized for a very long time, people fall into certain patterns. But then circumstances change or the context isn’t the same, and the patterns don’t really work like they used-“

“He’s having relationship troubles,” Adelheid summarized blandly. “Which have undoubtedly been exacerbated by the Arcobaleno’s second puberty.”

Skull deflated. Every time he tried to act like an adult figure for Enma, something always ruined it.

“Oh.” Enma blinked. “I thought the Arcobaleno fought all the time. What’s puberty got to do with it?”

“Isn’t it obvious? When the Seven were infants, they never had to worry about infidelity or defending their claim. There was no pressure to define or explore or negotiate the terms of their relationships.” 

“Viper still managed to cheat on us,” Skull said grudgingly. 

“They had an emotional affair,” Adelheid agreed. “But whilst under the sway of the curse, it would have been impossible for them to consummate it with a bond. Although they acted as the Varia’s Mist, harmonization was never an option.”

And now that the Varia was courting a new Mist to harmonize with, the case seemed rather closed.

“I can’t fault Viper too harshly, I guess…” Skull sighed. “It was only recently that we even talked about whether or not the seven of us were exclusive.”

The conversation had never been necessary before, bound by the curse and bound in the bodies of children as they were. Not that Skull hadn’t still gotten one _hell_ of a nasty shock a few years back when he received an invitation to Bianchi and Reborn’s wedding. Even after the whole thing was revealed to be a sham, the other Arcobaleno certainly had a lot to say about it. It was one of the few times they’d all actually managed to put Reborn in the dog house.

He and the other Arcobaleno had always been ‘together’, with or without hormones, even though there had been no declarations of fealty or devotion. They’d gone from relative strangers to being inseparably bonded overnight. It was rather like an arranged marriage in that way.

“People don’t talk about their feelings in the mafia world. Too vulnerable,” Enma said. “Instead things are assumed or left implicit, largely unspoken. It is a high-context culture. A little like Japan, I guess.”

“I’ve been with the mafia for so long, but there’s still so much I don’t know because nobody _talks_ about it,” Skull complained. “It’s all so obvious to them that they don’t think it even needs explaining.”

Reborn and Colonello had grown up in a mafia neighborhood, as did Lal in a different part of Italy and Verde in Spain. Fon and Yuni were born heirs to criminal estates. No one knew where Viper came from, but they were clearly born into the lifestyle. It had always been hard for Skull to keep up, culturally speaking.

“Mm. You know what I think your problem is, Skull? You think like a civilian, assuming that boundaries will be adhered to on principle. However the concept of basic, automatic respect and consideration doesn’t exist in the mafia world.” Adelheid said. “Here, the assumption is that everyone wants you dead. You only get the respect you fight for, and if you establish no boundaries then it is assumed you neither have nor deserve any.”

Skull’s eyes narrowed. “What are you saying?”

“With words you claim to hate being their lackey, but in your actions you freely volunteer for the role,” Adelheid said. “According to the norms of mafia culture, your inability to say ‘no’ is your consent to the complete domination of your rights and personhood.”

Skull stared. “But no one gave me permission to say no!”

Adelheid and Enma looked at him with something like bewilderment.

“Well have _you_ ever tried saying ‘no’ to Reborn?” Skull demanded. “Of course not! It doesn’t happen!”

“You’re his bondmate and his Cloud. It’s your right to refuse him,” Adelheid said seriously. “No matter who or what has discouraged you from doing so, if you are firm in establishing your boundaries then he has to respect them.”

“Ha, no. You don’t know what he’s like. There’s no talking to him, there never has been.” Skull said. “Once the others throw their weight around, I buckle every time.”

“Testing another person’s resolve is hardly advanced psychology,” Adelheid said, eyebrow raised. “Even small children do it. When you aren’t willing to stand up for your needs, you’re saying that they aren’t important enough. A protest with no follow-through is the equivalent of being coy.”

Skull felt the early stirrings of panic in his chest. Enma seemed to sense it, reaching out to awkwardly pat him on the shoulder.

“Maybe… maybe your bondmates thought you were aware?”

“Of what, advertising myself as the biggest doormat in the galaxy because I _wanted_ to be their bitch?” Skull scoffed, feeling slightly hysterical. “Who on earth would think that!?”

Adelheid and Enma exchanged a glance.

“ _No you did not!_ ”

Enma looked sheepish. “I didn’t think you _enjoyed_ it so much as… maybe you felt like you needed them to have that control over you? Or that you had some prior arrangement?”

“On the bright side, it means we assumed you knew what you were doing.” Adelheid calmly sipped her tea. “And some people are into that sort of thing. We don’t judge.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of any of this,” Skull said, hands spread across his face. “They’ve knowingly let me degrade myself this _whole time_?”

“It sounds like your bondmates either underestimated your ignorance, wanted to see you realize things for yourself, or were actively encouraging your misunderstanding. I’m sure at this point you can discern for yourself who did which.”

Skull’s mind flitted back to memories of Verde trying to get a rise out of him, and of Fon and Lal encouraging him to set boundaries while looking at him like they couldn’t understand why he hadn’t already.

“We do not have Sky Flames or fully understand the workings of a Sky Harmony,” Adelheid went on. “but if I had encountered a Cloud as powerful and as ignorant as you, the temptation to chain you down before you learned better would be hard to resist.”

“Clouds are kind of high maintenance,” Enma murmured. “At least that’s what people say. It’s hard to keep them satisfied and you always have to prove that you’re worthy of keeping them. Plus there’s always a risk they’ll still up and leave, even if you didn’t do anything wrong, just because they got claustrophobic.”

The Cloud lay back on the floor, feeling shaken and numb. “I can’t believe this.”

“Skull, did you _actually_ think you had no choice but to be the Arcobaleno’s slave for forty years?” Adelheid asked, eyeing him dubiously. “In all that time you _never_ thought to refuse your own bondmates?”

“I’m at the bottom of the hierarchy!”

“So? You’re still their Cloud, not their subordinate!” Adelheid countered. “The omega is supposed to oversee emotional labor and trust in the pack’s guidance, not cater to their every whim!”

“ _Well nobody told me that_!” They were shouting now, not so much out of anger but frustration and confusion.

Skull climbed to his feet. At best, this was the most humiliating and prolonged instance of miscommunication ever. At worst… he’d been intentionally misled by his bondmates into giving his rights and dignity away for nearly half a century.

“I’m heading out. I need… I need to think. Okay? Call me if you need anything.”

“Sure.” Enma nodded, his eyes were full of worry. “And you too. Whatever you need, Skull.”

* * *

 

Skull found himself in a late night cafe, staring into the depths of his latte. His mind felt blank, as if he’d been totally hollowed out. How could he have been so blind? 

'Because they wanted you to be,' slipped into his mind unbidden. 'Because harmony is so rare you had hardly anything to compare it to.' And the situation with the curse made their circumstances beyond compare regardless. What a goddamn mess.

Skull sighed, still in the throes of feeling sorry for himself when his phone rang.

“Yeah?” He asked tiredly. “What is it?”

Not looking at the caller id had been his first mistake.

“ _You’ve been avoiding me, Lackey._ ”

It felt like someone had poured ice water down his back. Skull dropped his spoon.

“I’m always avoiding you,” he said before immediately cringing at his own words.

Reborn hummed, sounding more amused than anything. “ _I hear you’re in Namimori. Quite the coincidence, as I’m not in town at the moment._ ”

“Um.“

“ _You’re of course aware that I’ve been invited to the anniversary for the Cavallone’s founding._ ”

“Th-that’s nice,” Skull gripped the table. “I’m sure Dino appreciates having you there.”

“ _It seems a shame that we’ve missed each other by such a close margin._ ”

Skull was beginning to break out into a cold sweat. “Yeah, it was uh. Work related. I’m aiding the Simon right now, like Miss Lal and Colonnello suggested -“

“ _Oh yes, I heard. About your unwillingness to return to the External Advisors or part with that pack of glorified delinquents, that is._ ”

“You’re the one who sent me to the Carcassa in the first place!”

_“That was thirty-eight years ago, Skull. But we’ll talk about that later. After you’ve arrived.”_

“Arrived?”

“ _You’re my date for the celebration._ ”

Reborn had called to set up a date. That was worse than calling him for an errand because at least for the latter there was a chance they wouldn’t have to interact directly. 

Skull could feel his pulse in his ears, hard and fast enough to make him a little light headed.

“Do you believe we’re really soulmates?”

There was a beat of silence. The question had come out of nowhere and they both knew it.

  _“…Unusually pensive today, are you?_ ” 

Skull said nothing. There was a sigh on the other side of the line.

“ _You know as well as I do that the odds of forming a successful harmony are slim to none. It’s one of the reasons Checkerface had us work together for so long, to confirm we were a viable set before cursing us. Who knows how many previous failed attempts he made, or what happened to Arcobaleno who proved incompatible after the forced bonding_.”

Skull remained silent, waiting with somber expectancy.

“ _Yes, Skull. As baffling as it may seem, we’re soulmates. There are no others who could harmonize with us._ ”

“How can you be sure?”

“ _Because I am the strongest Sun in the world_ ,” Reborn said it without a hint of arrogance, like he was simply stating that the sky was blue and water was wet. “ _Who else would be meant for me but the strongest Cloud?_ ”

“And that’s what I am to you,” Skull said dully. “Your Cloud.”

“ _You say that like it’s some lesser thing. To be my Cloud - or any other bondmate - is of greater significance than being my spouse, in every regard as well as by mafia law,_ ” Reborn said. “ _You would know that if you weren’t a civilian_.”

Skull clenched his fists on the table. “I imagine there are a lot of things I don’t know, as a civilian.” 

There was a pause, Reborn noting the darkness in the Cloud’s voice.

“ _… Come to Italy, Skull._ ”

“I don’t want to.”

“ _I didn’t ask if you wanted to. I am telling you to get on that godforsaken airship of yours and be here by tomorrow evening._ ”

He was testing Skull’s resolve, like Adelheid said. If Skull was firm, he’d back off - just as Lal and Colonello had backed off regarding a return to the CEDEF.

He just had to say no. Say no and hang up. Do it and that’ll be the end.

…Except what if Reborn came back later, angry and in person?

_“I won’t say it again.”_

Skull felt like dissolving into the booth cushions. He really was weak.

“… Okay.” His voice cracked as he said it.

* * *

 

Aside from the manor that served as their home base, the Arcobaleno owned multiple properties throughout Italy. Penthouses in the cities, manors in the suburbs, in one case a small castle tucked away in the hills. The villa Skull arrived at was standard for more rural country areas such as this, where the landscape was mostly vineyards and winding roads for miles. 

Reborn never left much of a trace behind, with there being few signs if any of his former presence. Despite that, although he wasn’t there at the moment, logic dictated that Reborn must have already arrived and be currently living out of the property due to its short commute to the Cavallone estate. It made Skull’s skin crawl, just a little bit, with the apprehension and stress that came with anticipation.

Skull sat in front of a mirror in the room that had come to be his over the years. The closet still had some toddler-sized clothes crammed in the back that he’d never gotten around to tossing, but the makeup in the vanity was as serviceable as it ever was. 

He’d called Plasma whilst applying his foundation, on the pretense of work which she entertained for his benefit. He didn’t speak Finnish and she didn’t speak Norwegian, but by some miracle they both knew Norse. She listened to his rambling and circuitous storytelling in nonjudgemental silence.

“ _Hierarchy can be confusing to navigate. We use it to establish dominance in the most animalistic sense, but it also serves a gentler purpose. The strong don’t only subjugate the weak, but protect them,”_ she said when he was done. “ _There are different tiers of intimacy, each in-group with their own pecking order to delegate responsibility and identify need._ ” 

“So, hypothetically if you were to harmonize with the boss…”

Plasma choked, and he could imagine the color flushing to her cheeks as she cleared her throat. 

“ _Then our relationship would no longer be defined as employer-employee. We would cross the line from Famiglia to family. He would still be my superior, but more as…_ ” She paused, searching for the right words. “ _As the Head of Household_.”

Reborn was unquestionably the acting head of the Arcobaleno’s house. Yuni was just too young, comparable to their niece or granddaughter in all but blood. And underneath the Sun’s leadership, Skull did feel safe in a way. It was something to know that your alpha was the most perilous beast the underworld had to offer, and that nothing else could even come close.

"No one hurts you but me," the darkness said. "But I **will** hurt you."

Skull had grown up courting danger, but had not been prepared for danger to court him right back.

The sound of a car outside made Skull freeze.

“I think he’s home. I have to go.” He didn’t wait for her reply before hanging up. 

The call had helped somewhat but his brain was still swimming in confusion. In all the tiers of in-group and intimacy, what was he to Reborn? Was he his boyfriend, his subordinate, his colleague? Nothing felt like a fit. There wasn’t a word in any language that seemed to fully describe their relationship, and it made it hard to find his footing.

Over the years the Seven had been enemies and allies alike, with the default state being somewhere in-between. ‘Family’ with all the disquieting intimacy and passive-aggressive brutality the word could possibly imply. Unwilling or not, after forty years of soul bondage no one was ever going to know them as the other Arcobaleno did. Not ever. 

It was _terrible._

Skull made his way down to the foyer on socked feet, still wearing only half his suit.

Reborn was standing in profile by the entryway, sifting through something on his phone. A little taller than Skull remembered, with the black lines of his suit harsh beneath the light of the antique chandelier. Skull’s body was awash with mixed signals, a deep and primal part of him rejoicing at his bondmate's proximity as Cloud and Sun flames reunited. 

Reborn looked up, eye contact hitting like a bolt of lightning.

“H-hey,” Skull stammered, relieved that his voice was cooperating at all.

Reborn’s mouth twitched. 

“Hello,” his replied, voice mild with amusement. “It’s been a while.”

“I guess.”

“Because you’ve been avoiding me.”

Skull scowled. “The last time we spoke you called me pathetic and a coward.”

“Did I?” Reborn paused, as if he needed to remind himself. “Hurt your feelings, I gather. Are you mad at me, Skull?”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Play games. I know you don’t care if I’m mad or not.”

Reborn shrugged, looking back at his phone. “Well how mad can you be, if you don’t do anything about it?”

Skull winced. That’s what it came down to again: his upset perpetually dismissed because he never said no, because he never backed any of it up. 

“And what if I did do something about it?” Skull asked quietly.

Reborn looked up. Wordlessly he closed off his phone and pocketed it.

“Well I’m not stopping you. Did you have something in mind?”

Skull haplessly opened and closed his mouth. Biting his lip, he redirected his gaze to the floor and shook his head. 

Reborn hummed thoughtfully in response, leather shoes clacking against the Venetian mosaic tile as he drew nearer.

“This must have been hard for you,” he said coolly. “Leaving behind the world you knew. It is commendable how well you’ve adapted, and you are good at what you do. But you really think too much.”

Reborn put a hand under Skull’s chin, forcing eye contact. His eyes were black as the void, rendering iris indistinguishable from pupil. It suited him. He was not a gentle, warming Sun; he was intensity and destruction and all-encompassing heat. An unshakeable gravity around which all others were made to revolve.

“Instinctively, you know your place. You just need to accept it consciously.” Reborn kissed him on the cheek - an Italian greeting or something more, Skull’s head was spinning too severely to discern. “Finish getting ready, Skull. If we’re late, I’m going to scold you.”

Skull did not want to know what that would entail. He drew back, stumbling over his own feet in his urgency to pull away.

* * *

 

Being the bondmate of the most dangerous man in the world was… difficult to explain.

Skull was the ‘immortal’ one, and yet Reborn gave off an aura that was downright superhuman. More force of nature than man, an entity of raw power and chthonic energy. As they ascended the front steps to the Cavallone mansion, the other guests - seasoned and respected mafioso, every one - shrank from them like shadows against the light. The masses parted like waves at Reborn’s feet as he moved, hand pressed firmly to the base of Skull’s back. The contact sent tingles up the Cloud’s spine, and the bond they shared thrummed like a plucked harp string.

The Cavallone anniversary celebration entailed a lavish banquet and party on the famiglia estate. It was mostly an in-house affair, but high ranking members from allied families had of course been invited to attend. The estate was a beacon in the night, light streaming from every window as the sound of live music filtered out across the property. Men and women in unspeakably expensive attire exited from limousines and climbed the steps to be greeted by members of the Cavallone family. Reborn was of course to be received by the boss himself. 

Skull remembered meeting Dino as a boy, young and awkward and fresh off the loss of his father. He’d grown up aware of his destiny, but was resistant to it. Until Reborn entered the picture, anyway.

The now-grown man clasped his former tutor’s hand with a smile that was both warm and sincere.

“We’re so glad you could make it,” he was saying over the sound of the mingling guests.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Reborn said. “The family has come a long way since its inception. Even further since you took over.”

“Well that’s thanks to you isn’t it?” Dino asked with a laugh. “And you brought Skull. I don’t usually see you two together.”

“He’s always cross with me,” Reborn said easily, as if it was just adorable. “We’ve made up, however.”

“I’m glad! It’s great to have you both in any case,” Dino said as he grasped Skull’s hand in greeting. “You’re very welcome here.”

They were led to the back garden, which was glowing with strung lights and lanterns. Tables lined with food were assembled, and caterers laden with drinks milled throughout the crowd. Music wafted from the stage were a live classical ensemble was stationed.

 It was the kind of glamorous function that the Carcassa wouldn’t have been invited to in a thousand years, nor one any of their number would have been caught dead at otherwise. Except for Skull, of course.

“How long are we staying?” Skull found himself asking.

Reborn’s fingers splayed wider across the Cloud’s back. “Looking to escape so soon?”

“Running’s what I do best, according to you.” 

“You’re also a rather adept conversationalist,” Reborn gave him a nudge. “So go and be charming. You so rarely get to interact with the community outside those bottomfeeders you’re fond of.”

Skull rolled his eyes, but could already feel his old persona slipping on like a suit. Upbeat, approachable, clumsy and harmless. The sort of person a mafioso would be unlikely to respect, but doubly hard-pressed to dislike. Sometimes being liked opened more doors than being respected ever could.

Reborn stayed by his side throughout, always making the introductions but otherwise being content to watch an listen. Skull did so much talking that if they’d been anyone else, one might have mistaken him for the primary guest and Reborn as his plus one. 

“I’m sure you’ve heard of my Cloud,” Reborn would say, uttering the title like anyone else would say ‘my spouse’. 

And then Skull would be off, engaging the other guests on their jobs or their hobbies as if they were the most interesting people in the world. He gave as good as he received of course: he’d always considered himself a decent storyteller, and was unafraid of telling an embarrassing anecdote if it got a laugh or lowered defense as a result. Skull was not a man with much reputation to lose, but even that could be turned to his advantage in the end. 

“I’ve only been arrested once, I think,” Skull was saying to a man with tattoos peeking out from beneath his suit collar. “I got caught at a queer bar in London, 1967. They’d also just set the age of consent for being gay to 21. I was still underage but I had a _really_ good fake ID. Got out on bail.”

People always seemed interested in stories that reminded them of how long he’d been alive, of just how dangerously the Arcobaleno toed the line between mundane and supernatural. 

“I suppose I never had much respect for the law even back then,” Skull said lightly. “Made it easier to get into other things, when the opportunity came up.”

“We all get our start somewhere,” one of the guests agreed. “I always wondered how civilians fell into this lifestyle.”

“I wouldn’t say I _fell_ into it,” Skull said with a meaningful glance at Reborn. “More like dragged.”

There was a round of soft laughter, and the two Arcobaleno politely excused themselves to find another group with whom to banter.

“I always found this performance of yours more compelling than your little bike tricks,” Reborn said once they were a respectable distance away.

“The bike tricks are more fun.” 

Skull never felt weak or unsure when he was driving, and the same could be said for his days as an aerialist. The adrenaline and danger combined with knowing he was skilled and savvy enough to pull off even the most obscene of stunts, leaving him feeling invincible and powerful in ways he never did with both feet on the ground.

Reborn was pulling him to the dance floor, a sheet of parquet floor ringed with lanterns as the nearby band played. 

“Are you actually enjoying yourself or did you just bring me here to make me miserable?” Skull asked flatly as Reborn positioned their hands.

“Yes.” 

"Sadist."

“Is that back talk?”

“… no, sir.”

Skull liked a good party as much as the next guy, but playing the part of Reborn’s bumbling-but-lovable bondmate was exhausting. If this had been a Carcassa gathering, the guests would all be drunk, naked and/or assembling the nearest wooden furniture into an impromptu bonfire by now.

“You said you wanted to talk about work,” Skull said, hyperaware of the grip on his waist as well as the hand he was holding. “But there’s nothing to talk about. I told Lal and Colonello that I’m sticking with the Carcassa.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. The new boss had just taken over, there’s a lot to do while he gets settled.” Skull said, needing to get this all out before he lost his nerve. “And I’ve been teaching Plasma-“

“Who?”

“My aide in the Carcassa. Cloud-type. She can’t do what I can of course, but I’ve shown her a few tricks.”

Skull’s ‘mutation’ was one in a billion, but some things could be taught: using flames to absorb fall damage from great heights, to reinforce one’s muscles, or even to drain the flames of others on contact.

“… You’ve taken on a student.”

“I suppose?” Skull shrugged. “I never really thought of it that way.”

“I sent you to the Carcassa so you could learn from them, not so you could teach them your secrets. They’ve already become powerful enough under your patronage,” Reborn said. “The one you seek to mentor should be worthy of an Arcobaleno’s attention.”

“I’ve been looking out for Enma, but he’s not a Cloud,” Skull protested. “And Plasma’s very good.”

“You are not in a position to know the difference between the wheat and the chaff,” Reborn said impatiently. “This is why we make decisions for you, to keep you from doing something ridiculous like sinking inordinate time and resources into a dead-end endeavor.”

“Well excuse me if I don’t see my friends that way!”

“Friends?” Reborn echoed before sighing in resignation. “Of course. You’ve gotten attached. I knew this would happen eventually.”

“You get attached all the time! How many stray kids have you taken on already?”

“Every ‘stray’ I’ve taken on has been a king in the making,” Reborn replied. “Your weakness for outcasts aside, what exactly are you training a drug trafficking hoodlum to be?”

“That’s - I’m not training her _for_ anything, I just -“

“Didn’t think it through. Because you don’t know better.” Reborn said. “Hence why we allocate your time and work for you. It’s for your own good.”

“Please don’t talk to me like I’m some dumb kid.”

Reborn’s hold tightened on Skull’s waist, his other hand tangling their fingers together.

“If you act like a child that’s not my business. You’re still our responsibility.”

“Because I’m a civilian?” Skull asked scathingly. “Or the youngest and weakest?”

“Because we know what’s best for you, when you obviously don’t.”

“Right.” The song ended and Skull extracted himself from the Sun’s grasp. “Well if you’ll excuse me, I need to step inside for a minute. _Sir_.”

He wove through the crowd before receiving a reply. 

* * *

 

The bathroom was luxurious by anyone’s standards, with real marble counters and gleaming tile floors. The soap was in unlabeled crystal glass bottles. There was even a _fireplace_ , for goodness sake. 

Skull resisted the urge to splash water on his face, prioritizing the integrity of his makeup over the temporary relief it’d bring him. Instead he perched his elbows by the sink and took deep, steadying breaths. 

He couldn’t let Reborn get under his skin. When that happened he panicked, and when he panicked things only ever went from bad to worse. Panic made him clumsy and desperate, which would only prove the Sun’s point.

He sighed, tangling his fingers in his hair. He just didn’t know what was happening anymore.

“Running really is what you do best.” 

Skull flinched as the bathroom door swung shut again, but didn’t look up. He heard Reborn’s shoes on the tile and felt his presence behind him.

“Am I not entitled to any space or privacy?”

“I’ve given you plenty of both while you were avoiding me,” Reborn retorted. “Why don’t you quit sulking and tell me what the problem is. You’ve been sore all day and it can’t be because of some sharp words I said months ago. God knows you’ve taken worse.”

“Well maybe that’s the problem!” Skull turned, rounding on him. “I’ve been your punching bag for decades and I’m _tired_ , okay? I thought we were supposed to be trying to make this work, but when I told you I was unhappy all you had to say was that I needed to get over it.”

“Hm. And that’s what this is all about, is it?” Reborn took a step forward, pressing Skull further against the counter. “Really.”

Skull stiffened. He hadn’t actually intended to hash this out, secretly hoping he could endure the rest of the night and then quietly slip out of the country. Resume avoiding the Sun for another few months. He could feel his heartbeat wracking against his chest, hands trembling behind his back.

“It’s just not fair,” he said, hating how desperate he sounded. “I’ve done everything you ever asked. I just. I don’t know what it is you want from me.”

Reborn tsked as he wiped the corner of Skull’s left eye, looking at the moisture on his fingertips like it were something quietly fascinating. 

“You civilians are something else,” Reborn mused. “So expressive. Shamelessly flaunting your vulnerability without care for who sees. It’s… endearing.”

“I’m not some lost kid for you to fix,” Skull said, blinking the remaining tears away.

“No. But Tsuna is like you in some ways. Skittish and stubborn,” Reborn said fondly. “And he’s going to be _glorious_ one day, I’ll see to that.”

“I feel bad for him already.”

Reborn smiled, an amused twist at the corner of his mouth as he gently cupped Skull’s face in his hand.

“You could be glorious too, Skull. Even without knowing the first thing about our world, you  managed to breach the Seven Strongest.” Reborn’s thumb traced the curve of Skull’s jaw and for several moments the Cloud was sure he’d forgotten how to breathe. “Perhaps, when this task is done, I’ll give you my full attention. Would you like that?”

Skull swallowed.

“I… I don’t know,” Is what slipped out before his mind started working again, reminding him in no uncertain terms what Reborn’s ‘attention’ involved. “I don’t think so.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Reborn said, eyes bright with humor. “I take good care of my charges you know.”

“We have very different definitions of ‘good’,” Skull said shakily. “…And ‘care’.”

“I’m sure. But what is it they say?” He gave Skull’s neck an affectionate squeeze. “ _Love hurts_?”

“Reborn -“

Skull felt his tie enclose around his neck as it was pulled like a leash, forcing him to double over. He could feel Reborn’s breath on the shell of his ear.

“So who have you been talking to, Skull?” The Sun’s voice was deceptively calm. “Was it the Carcassa girl? Or one of your other little ‘friends’? When did this start, exactly?”

Skull swallowed. “It’s not like that.”

“No? I admit, I was surprised to hear you put your foot down with Lal and Colonello.”

“They don’t have the right to make me q-quit my job and uproot my life -“

“We’re your bondmates and we have every right. The rules of seniority are reciprocal: we take care of you, and you defer to our judgement. That’s how it’s always worked.”

“Maybe you don’t deserve my submission,” Skull said, hands fisted in the lapel’s of Reborn’s suit. “I’m supposed to trust you and you played me for _years_.”

The silence between them was heavy with tension, Skull wordlessly daring the other man to protest or feign ignorance.

Of course the Sun did neither. In an instant Skull’s tie was released, the sudden rush of air leaving him dizzy. 

“So someone _has_ been talking to you about this. I suppose it was inevitable,” Reborn said. “Still. You were free to refuse us at any time.”

“Don’t you dare put this on me! Not when you’ve spent all these years intentionally letting me think I had no choice!” Skull snapped, voice hoarse. “You would have let me give you _everything_. And I would have, because I didn’t know better!”

“I’m curious as to what exactly you thought would happen if you didn’t,” Reborn said. “Did you think we’d kill you for it?”

“Well, no-“

“Because it seems to me that nothing was actually stopping you from standing up to us. So it really looks like you’re blaming us for your own cowardice. Again.”

“Don’t call me that!” Skull was shoving him before he could think twice about it, knocking Reborn against the bathtub and causing the faucet to begin gushing water.

Reborn straightened, eyes alight. “I would think very carefully before starting something you can’t finish, Skull.”

The Cloud made a primal noise of rage in his throat. He knew he wasn't thinking straight, but for what seemed like the first time ever his fight response was overriding flight.

“You manipulative, emotionally stunted _psychopath_. You have literally written your name on my goddamn soul and it’s _still_ not enough!?” Skull hurled the soap against the wall, causing it to shatter into glass and blue fluid just behind where Reborn had stood. “The hell is wrong with you!? You fucking _own_ me and you have to add insult to injury too?”

Reborn moved faster than Skull could register, grasping him by the upper arms and throwing him onto the counter like he weighed nothing. He felt the mirror crack against the force of his weight, Reborn pressing ruthlessly against him.

“I can see you’re upset,” Reborn said, Sun flames alive and burning just beneath his skin. “Am I guilty of enabling your ignorance? Yes. I did that. But you played your own part in this, Skull.”

“Don’t-“

“And I think that deep down, you wanted it to be like this. I think you _like_ not having to take responsibility, and letting us take control whilst playing the victim is just part of that,” his breath was warm against Skull’s neck. “Maybe I kept you in your place, but I am not the one who put you there. You did that all on your own.”

Skull hand his hands tight on Reborn’s wrists, trying desperately to avoid eye contact. 

“You’re wrong.”

“Am I? Forty years is a long time to be so unhappy Skull. You had plenty of opportunities to push back and you never did.”

“Because I couldn’t! And now you’re just trying to mess with my head, like you have been this whole time-“

They both froze at the sound of someone clearing their throat. 

“I, uh. Hate to intrude,” Dino said, standing awkwardly by the door. “But is everything okay in here? We heard a pretty awful racket.”

“Everything’s fine,” Reborn said, still pinning Skull against the mirror. “We’re just sorting a few things out.”

“Like the fact that my Sun is a cosmic bastard!” 

“And my Cloud is a spineless brat.”

Dino glanced between them anxiously, wearing the universal discomfort of a man who’d walked in on a lovers’ tiff. 

“H-hey now, let’s just… try to calm down okay?” He asked, hands up placatingly. 

“I am completely calm. Skull is the one throwing a tantrum.” Reborn replied. “It’s under control. You’ll understand if you ever enter a harmony.”

Dino’s gaze darted from the broken mirror, to the splatter of soap that was dribbling down the wall, to the bathtub that was officially overflowing.

“… I think I’m happy to stay single.” 

“That’s what they all say. Please shut the door behind you; we shan’t be much longer.”

Dino hesitated, but the look on his former mentor’s face left no room for argument. He backed out and into the hall, the door clicking definitively behind him. 

“And now we’ve made a scene,” Reborn said, sounding utterly unbothered. “How should I punish you for that?”

Skull glared, squirming on the counter for better purchase. “You don’t have the right.”

“Of course I do. _You_ gave me that right.”

“I didn’t know that’s what I was doing! I only let you do what you wanted because I was scared of you!” Skull gave a wild but firm kick, knocking Reborn off him and into the opposite wall.

Reborn bounced back seamlessly, grabbing Skull by the shirt and throwing him against the wet floor. Hot water soaked into his suit from the overflowing tub, steam rising and beginning to fog the broken mirror.

“And you were scared I would do what, again? You never said,” Reborn said, standing over him. “You can’t be killed and Arcobaleno are forbidden from doing each other serious harm. So why did you let us subjugate you if it’s not what you wanted?”

“Because the Arcobaleno was all I had and I fucking trusted you!” Skull moved to get up but Reborn was already on him, straddling his hips and pressing his shoulders to the floor with both hands. “I trusted you and you exploited me!”

“And I’m to shoulder all the blame for that, am I? Clearly you never heard the story of the Scorpion and the Frog.”

“Go to hell. You know what you are? You’re- you’re a child that no one ever said no to, so you think you can do whatever the hell you want. Spoiled kid that breaks his own toys. Only I don’t break do I?” Skull laughed hollowly. “How novel for you! So you make a game out of winding me up and watching me go, _over and over again_ because what consequences, right? You’ve never had to deal with consequences in your goddamn life!” 

It was getting harder to breath from the steam, the both of them soaked and bruised and cruelly tangled together.

“Well fuck you.” Skull’s shoes slipped uselessly on the wet tile. “I’m not your chew toy. You don’t get to take me apart whenever you like just because you can.”

Reborn was looking down at him with something that resembled fascination.

“And what exactly is it that you want, Skull?”

Skull snorted, feeling borderline hysterical. “To be more than your lackey, for a start. To not be afraid of you anymore.”

“I have no control over what you find frightening.”

“Everyone’s afraid of you Reborn and you like it!” Skull snarled. “But I’m not your subordinate or your colleague, I’m your bondmate. I want you to respect me. I want us to be - fuck, I want us to be _close_. Why is that a wild concept when we’ve been together for forty fucking years?”

“We don’t live in a world that facilitates sentiment.”

“So all that talk about harmony and family is just words then?” Skull looked at the other man, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “… What exactly are _you_ afraid of, Reborn?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re the most dangerous man in the world. The strongest of the Seven. And yet you’re just as afraid of letting people in as the rest of the mafia. How come?”

Reborn looked at him for a long moment.

“I’m not sure how these ideas wound up in your head,” he said lowly. “But when I find out, there’s going to be hell to pay.”

“Maybe so. Because if I’m yours,” Skull said soberly. “then you’re also mine. And you and I are due to have a reckoning.”

“How biblical. And how exactly do you expect to hurt me?” Reborn asked, eyebrow raised.

Seconds passed with agonizing slowness. Skull swallowed and took a deep breath, inhaling the steam and faint scent of spilled soap.

“The only way I can.”

The Sun’s eyes flickered as understanding set in, and his grip on Skull’s shoulders became bruising.

“You think it’s that easy?” He whispered, almost inaudible over the sound of running water. “That I’m just going to let you go?”

“Let me go?” Skull repeated. “No. I don’t think you could do that.”

He pressed his hands up Reborn’s shirt to touch the bare skin, feeling the Sun flames buzzing in the other man’s cells.

“You’d better not-“ 

“Sorry.” And he almost meant it.

Absorbing flames was, in Skull’s mind, comparable to a blood transfusion with the foreign essence being siphoned out and eventually converted into his own. It was a formidable and laborious process, intimate, especially when particularly pure flames were involved. It was an incredibly difficult technique. However in that moment Skull’s will was ironclad, and he could feel Reborn’s strength waver as his flames were steadily drained out.

“This is _not_ over,” Reborn said with a squeeze to Skull’s neck. “No matter where you go, I’ll find you.”

“Unless it’s to agree to my terms, don’t bother.”

Even under the circumstances, Reborn’s lips twitched into a smirk. “You promised me a reckoning, Skull. Are you prepared for what it’ll entail?” 

“No,” he answered honestly. “But something’s got to give.”

In all the times he imagined kissing Reborn, he’d never been the instigator. The notion was unthinkable, even in the safety of Skull’s own mind. Yet in that moment he found himself pulling the other man down to him, pressing mouths together. Reborn was softer than expected, and it came as a surprise that the man could be anything other than harsh lines and sharp edges. There was warmth and hunger in their kiss, Skull licking into the Sun’s mouth and feeling stolen flames pour down his throat.

Then there were teeth on Skull’s bottom lip, brutally breaking skin until they both tasted iron. Reborn pulled away, licking the blood.

“Don’t waste your head start, Lackey.” His eyes were glassy, his skin pallid, the Sun pacifier around his neck looking dull in color. “Even I have no idea what I’ll do when I get my hands on you.”

* * *

 

Skull emerged from the bathroom, clothes drenched and torn, throat bruised, and lips swollen and bleeding. A small crowd of people had gathered in the hall, all of them trying their best to pretend they weren’t staring. 

Dino took in the state of him with wide eyes.

“Arcobaleno Skull. Are you… alright?”

He didn’t have to see himself to know how he looked: like he’d either been in a fight or in coitus, and the idea that he’d be the one walking away from a brawl with Reborn was inconceivable. 

“Hm?” Skull blinked, still riding the disquieting high of someone else’s energy being converted and propagated throughout his body. If someone were to turn the lights off, they’d find him glowing in the dark. “Yes. Reborn and I have concluded our... conversation.”

Dino coughed. “And uh, how is Reborn?”

“He’ll recover,” Skull said shortly. “Might want to give him a few minutes though.”

“Oh.” A bright blush was spreading up from the young don’s neck. “That’s. Oh.”

“Sorry for the commotion. You can invoice us for the damages.” 

Skull pushed past, the crowd hurrying to move out of his way. The moment his back was turned the tittering and whispers spread like wildfire through the guests, but none of that mattered.

All that mattered was that by the time Reborn was able to give chase, he’d be long gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter was profoundly dense with the world building, but I actually study sociology and my research on Collectivist cultures inspired a lot (unspoken tiers of in-group and out-group, hierarchies with enforced power dynamics, and implicit but rigid behavioral regulations to maintain communal peace, are all very real and common constructs).  
> It’s a definite culture shock in some cases, but Collectivist systems work for them and just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s bad. The _mafia_ is just what’s kinda bad lmao, because life and death stakes are so prevalent, and a lot of their society is built around aggression and manipulation as a result. Being a pushover has serious consequences.  
> But yeah, I hope it wasn't too confusing.


	7. Cloud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath.

**~1972~**

The Arcobaleno was said to be a myth: a mafia urban legend about a secret society of the world’s strongest. A secret league of flame actives whose abilities and skills bordered on superhuman.

Reborn had been playing this game for a long time, born and bred in the oldest and most prestigious of criminal communes. He had always known that the rumors had to be at least partially true. His mother had whispered the old stories in his ear, showed him old clippings and records of immaculately executed scenes, pointing out all the signs. Perfect crimes that could have been performed by no one else.

The Arcobaleno was real, and it was recruiting. Reborn had been suspicious of the invitation - legitimate or not, he was confident enough in his skills and felt no need to elevate himself by their association - but curiosity at meeting these other “world’s strongest” quickly won out. Then lo and behold, he found himself confronted with geniuses and mages, seasoned soldiers and mafiosi of the highest pedigree.

There was just one thing that didn’t add up.

“Exactly how old are you supposed to be, anyway?”

The boy (barely worth calling him a man, really) had the audacity to look surprised by the question. He blinked, shifting in his seat within that dimly-lit tea room.

“Twenty-three.” At the sight of their bewildered stares the Cloud hurriedly added, “But I’ll be twenty-four in August!”

Lal Mirch turned to Luce Nero de Giglio. “Is this a joke? I already have a student and even that idiot’s not a _child_.”

“There’s been no mistake,” Luce said. “Skull is inexperienced, but his Cloud flame has no equal.”

The violet of the boy’s hair and eyes checked out, the coloration even more vivid than was typical for flame actives. However Reborn noted that he was also wearing the quietly confused expression of someone who desperately wanted to ask a question, but had thought better of doing so.

“… You don’t know what a Cloud flame is, do you.”

Skull coughed. “Ah. Well-“

Dear god.

“He’s not even a rookie, he’s an actual child that you may as well have found on the street,” Viper said flatly. “And you want us to harmonize with him.”

The room was quiet.

“No one said anything about harmonization.”

“Don’t play dumb. There are seven of us gathered here, one of each type, our masked sponsor not included,” Viper said. “And we’ll be working together on a number of missions. What do you think is going to happen?”

“If we’re compatible, our flames will synchronize naturally over time,” Fon said.

Verde huffed. “I’m highly skeptical regarding the likelihood of that outcome.”

“As am I. But one can’t deny that it seems to be Checkerface’s probable intention,” Viper said. “Which makes his choice in candidates all the more dubious.”

“I don’t know what any of you are talking about. I’m just here to get paid, and it’s starting to look like more trouble than it’s worth,” Skull said, standing up. “If there’s a problem I can just lea-“

“You sit back down,” Reborn said sharply. “We’re not finished.”

The response to the order was immediate, the boy dropping back into his chair so fast he almost seemed surprised at himself.

Oh. So it was like _that_ was it?

“You say you’re here for money, but I can tell by looking at you that you’ve never killed before,” Reborn said, schooling his expression into one of indifference. “What is it that you do?”

“Skull isn’t a combatant,” Luce cut in. “However he has a very versatile skill set.”

Versatile or not, his skill set clearly wasn’t the reason he’d been summoned. Clouds were dangerous - for this civilian child to be the strongest of his breed, his flames had to be impossibly pure. For that to be the case, when he didn’t even know what flames were in the first place…

“Alright,” Reborn said. “I don’t mind giving this a try. Just be aware that any job I take on, I intend to complete. _Successfully_. I stake my reputation on every mission and relying on a civilian to not only do his part, but to not get in my way is a gamble.”

“I-“

Reborn held up a warning hand and the Cloud’s mouth snapped shut. “Whatever talents you have, you’re still the weak link. So here’s the deal - we look out for you, but you listen and obey our orders without question. Simple enough?”

The very air in the room seemed to still. One did not simply _dictate_ a Cloud’s obedience. It was practically unheard of. Clouds needed to be courted and charmed, coaxed like a feral animal away of the mad freedom of the wild and into the warm confines of a home.

Rare and powerful, most Clouds grew up treasured by their families as tickets to lucrative famiglia connections. Impressing them was often a complex and arduous ritual. Earning their submission was said to be nigh impossible: though they craved structure and form, they were still such rebellious and changeable creatures.

“I… guess so,” Skull said slowly, looking at each of them warily as if expecting a trap to spring. He could sense a heavier meaning to the contract being struck, but lacked the context to fully know what.

“Good. Keep that in mind and you may survive this.”

“I’ll survive anyway,” he said, the words coming out too plain to be cocky. “But yeah, I get it.”

“Then we’re agreed.”

“Yes?” Skull searched the faces around him for answers, uneasy despite the seemingly harmless nature of the conversation. “But I still don’t understand-“

“There’s a 15-inch case in the backseat of my car,” Reborn said, tossing the boy his keys. “I want you to get it for me.”

There was another beat of stunned silence and the Sun wondered if he’d pushed his luck too far. Civilian or not, ignorance could only trump Cloud instinct to such a degree -

“Oh. Uh, sure.” Skull glanced back down the hall. “I can do that.”

They all watched him leave with a collective feeling of awe and budding hunger.

“Civilian, hm?” Verde asked once the Cloud was gone. “This certainly casts the dichotomy of nature and nurture in a new light.”

“He’s still acting in accordance to his nature,” Reborn said, half-lost in thought. “Clouds are their own worst enemy, with their devotion to independence leaving them scattered and amorphous if taken too far. And this ‘Skull’ has been alone for a very long time.”

A civilian with the terrible luck to be so brazenly flame-active, constantly yearning for something he couldn’t describe or name. Young and naive and burning _so_ bright, it was a miracle no one had taken advantage of him already. How fortunate that he had been found by the Arcobaleno, rather than some lesser pack.

Lal clicked her tongue. “We are going to eat him _alive_.”

 

 **~2014 (The Present)~**  

“How badly do you mess up railing a guy in a bathroom for him to break up with _all_ of us!?” Colonello had been ranting for the past half hour or so. Everyone was really only half-listening at that point.

“I don’t have time to go over all the ways you’re mistaken,” Reborn said dryly.

They had all gathered for the impromptu meeting in record time, pulled from opposite corners of the world to the Arcobaleno estate less than 24 hours after Skull’s departure.

“He sent me a text a little over an hour after he was seen leaving the Cavallone property,” Lal said, examining her phone. “It came from the villa; safe to say he sent it before moving to his next location.”

 _I’m leaving, I’m sorry_. It was the last they’d heard from him since.

“I’ve been able to track him as far as Japan,” Viper said, setting their papers aside. “My scouts say they found his ship abandoned near Namimori. From there the trail goes cold; he must have found a way to shield himself from my Thoughtography.”

“It’s not just that,” Verde said stoically, “His flame signature is extremely unique and inconspicuous, but I’ve also had no luck tracing him.”

“Could he have attained some of Viper’s Mammon Chains to conceal himself?” Fon asked.

“It’s possible.”

“He must have gone to Namimori for a reason,” Lal said. “He sponsors the Simon, but why would he risk going to them? So many eyes are on Japan these days because of Sawada.”

They took a moment to puzzle over the possibilities.

“I did say that Earth flames are a wild card,” Reborn said finally. “We know next to nothing about them and they’ve existed undetected in the population for all this time. It’s fair to say that that our scanners don’t detect their activity.”

“You think he’s still hiding out with them?” Viper asked skeptically. “Skull would not be so foolish to remain there.”

“I think it’s possible the Simon gave him something that’s eclipsing him from our sight.”

“Then we’ll go there and demand answers!” Colonello said, hands gripping the table. “Every moment we wait, we lose valuable time.”

“Exactly, and as stated Skull is unlikely to still be in Japan. Some of us will go question the Simon, the rest must look to where he’s gone next.” Reborn frowned. “And I have an idea of where to start.”

 

* * *

 

The first Plasma saw of him were his shoes, pristine Italian leather out of place on the cold damp floor of the warehouse. If it were anyone else she’d have spat her blood on them.

“Do you know why you’re here, child?” Reborn asked, sounding almost bored as he adjusted his cufflinks.

Plasma didn’t live this long by being the sort to comment that she was twenty-six, and that Reborn looked no older than nineteen at best.

Instead she pursed her lips and nodded. “I do.”

“We didn’t ask your family to do this, you know.” He gestured at the state of her: bruised and beaten, in some places still bleeding.

“I know.” She’d seen this coming, after all.

 

 **~48 HOURS EARLIER~**  

“I hope you know what you’ve done.”

Plasma was still burning papers, for all the good it would do her.

“I always do.”

“Do you?” Marrow was pacing, heavy boots tromping back and forth on the cement floor.

There was so grand estate, no flowing grounds for the Carcassa family. They made their home in the depths of a cavernous bunker, like ants in an endless underground labyrinth of concrete and steel.

“It might be one thing to flip off a few white collar famiglia, but to conspire against the Seven-“

“Marrow-“

“It’s _treason,_ ” Marrow fiercely whispered. “If we’re caught the boss will throw us under the bus. Best case scenario is our enemies hunt us down and kill us outright, before the Arcobaleno find us and do worse.”

“There’s no ‘we’. I forged the papers. I got him what he needed to cross international borders without his ship.”

“I knew. Of course I knew-“

“There’s no proof of that.”

“-and I didn’t stop you!” Marrow rubbed his face tiredly. “I care about Skull too, but you know what’ll happen when he’s caught?”

“ _If_ he’s caught.”

“Maybe the Arcobaleno give him a spanking and send him to his room for another forty years, is what.” Marrow continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “Is that worth throwing your life away? Getting involved in the Seven’s personal affairs, it’s… it’s not our place. It’s no one’s place, but especially not ours because we’re _nobody_ , Plasma.”

Nobody. Just some nameless Carcassa thugs.

“Maybe so,” Plasma said, watching papers turn to ash in the furnace. Marrow hadn’t seen the desperate look in Skull’s eyes, couldn’t possibly understand. “But I was also his friend. And I owed him this much.”

 

**~NOW~**

She’d been sacrificed, just as Marrow said, to appease the Arcobalenos’ anger before it could be directed unto the entire family. Thankfully his involvement had managed to slip under the radar. Reborn had gotten only her name, not his.

Even if it led to her current situation, Plasma couldn't help but feel warmed by the idea. Her mentor had talked about her, a nobody, by name. How nice.

“Apparently you had quite the career ahead of you,” Reborn was saying. “A shame you didn’t care more about it.”

“A shame you didn’t care more about your Cloud.”

Reborn turned to her with cold, black eyes. “Your life has been forfeit. As dictated by mafia law, your family has placed your future in the Arcobaleno’s hands.”

“We needn’t pretend that I still have a future.”

Something in Reborn’s eyes glinted. “Don’t be so fatalistic. You are the beneficiary of an Arcobaleno’s favor after all. Plus, given that Clouds are so rare… we have other uses for you.”

Oh. Of course.

“You’re sentencing me to indentured service,” Plasma said hollowly. “Where?”

“It’s not the ‘where’ you should be concerned about. More the ‘for whom’.” Reborn looked at her. “The Varia have been without a Cloud for quite a while now.”

Plasma froze, feeling for all the world like her lungs had been filled with ice water. She grit her teeth, knees raw against the concrete floor. Her nails, the intact ones, were digging bloody grooves into her palms.

She swallowed thickly. “I’m not gonna beg.”

“What would you beg for?” Reborn asked with genuine curiosity. “It’s service or death. And the latter may yet be forthcoming.”

The Sun Arcobaleno turned for the exit, where a figure that had been previously unseen stood waiting.

“You can take this from here. If she has any more information, I trust you’ll extract it.”

“Unlikely. Her part in this is over,” Mammon cast a dismissive glance Plasma’s way. “You just do what needs to be done. Clean up your mess.”

Reborn curtly tipped his hat at his bondmate in response, and was gone.

“Tell me, Carcassa.” Mammon’s movements were seamless, more of a hover than a gait that was disconcerting to look at. “Is it true that you were Skull’s right hand?”

Plasma hesitated before nodding slowly.

“I hear they call you The Succubus. Is it because he taught you how to siphon flames?”

She bit her bottom lip before nodding again.

“Show me.”

Without further warning a thick miasma of purple flame poured from the Arcobaleno’s fingers, choking the air from Plasma’s chest. She struggled to remember was Skull told her, instruction that sounded so nonsensical until she managed to see for herself.

 _It’s like breathing through your pores Plasma,_ he’d said. _Once you start it’s hard to stop._

She wondered sometimes if that was why Skull always covered himself from head to toe, never leaving an inch of skin exposed if he could help it. If it was because he was constantly inhaling energy from the aether, inadvertently draining those around him if left unchecked.

Drinking Mammon’s flames was like inhaling nail polish remover, sending Plasma’s head spinning. It got caught in her throat, leaving the faint taste of toxic berries and blood in her mouth. Mist sat in her bloodstream like a foreign agent, malicious and ill-fitting.

“Hn. You’re not as good as Skull, but that’s to be expected.” Mammon was already withdrawing, a finger pressed to the device in their ear. “She’s adequate. Come collect her and do with her as you will.”

Panic seized her chest, dread mixing with resignation.

“I hope you never find him!” Plasma’s fists clenched, rattling her chains. “He’s more than any of you deserved.”

The Mist paused in the doorway.

“The world is full of people who get what they don’t deserve.” Mammon assessed her from over their shoulder. “Just look at you.”

The warehouse door shut heavily behind them. It would open again soon enough.

 

* * *

 

 Adelheid Suzuki was not a woman who feared much.

“They’ll be on their way by now,” Julie said simply, plainly, like the concept was a somewhat tiresome one. “Could get bad.”

No one moved, but one could feel the universal shrug ripple through the air. As mere children they had once declared war on the Vongola in full view of the world. Was it any surprise that they were capable of sedition against the Arcobaleno?

“I should never have let Enma attach to that boy,” Adelheid said with a small sigh. “So troublesome.”

They had been young then, growing up as outcasts who didn’t even know who the Arcobaleno were - there had been a time when Adelheid considered Skull just another of Enma’s pet strays. Now, in hindsight, she realized that she’d had it backwards.

Ah well. Too late to turn back now.

Enma was already informing Tsunayoshi of the situation, likely in that somber sorry-not-sorry way of his. It was a courtesy gesture, not a call for aid. The Simon still had their pride, after all. Some days it seemed to be all that they had.

“Will we get to fight the purple boy’s husbands?” Shitopi asked carelessly, her feet propped in Rauji’s lap.

“Perhaps.”

Adelheid still found Sky harmonies to be a vaguely baffling affair. Their flames always flaring and lapping over one another, changeable like weather. Earth flames were much more steady and solid, not subject to being pushed or pulled by the winds.

The Simon had hurt each other, of course. Broken children from a desolate home, how could they not? Dysfunctional and awkward, the seven of them had lived together ever since the fateful night of the Flood of Blood. Tied together by mourning and anger and the need to survive, their bonds ran deeper than roots into soil. Immovable, despite any petty differences.

“Would be easier just to give him up,” Julie said half-heartedly. Usually he took sadistic pleasure in playing devil’s advocate and riling the others. Now he couldn’t seem to be bothered.

“Enma would not have it. Besides, there’s nothing to give at this point. We don’t know where he’s gone.”

“Tch. Annoying.”

“We can be honest: Skull came to us for aid, we provided him with a Glacier totem and sent him on his way.” Glacier was Cloud’s natural opposite and would nullify his flame signature so long as he didn’t use his abilities. “The truth won’t help them find him. If they take issue with that, well.”

Adelheid shrugged, idly thumbing her fans. This could well be what finally pushed the Simon over the edge, upheaving the tenuous position they’d been maintaining with the rest of the mafia community. With this newest betrayal, this great act of defiance, their crimes and transgressions might finally call for their blood. Tsunayoshi was not lord of the skies yet, and there was only so much he could do if the Simon refused to toe the line.

She smirked, admiring how the blades of her fans flashed beneath the kitchen light.

The Earth was slave to no authority of the Sky. There was no better legacy for the Simon Family to leave behind.

 

* * *

 

Reborn had only been to Vendicare Prison a handful of times. The snow-piled mountains were as frigid as he remembered, even with his Sun flames running hot under his skin. The cold stone exterior of the accursed building seemed to sap what little warmth there was right out of the air. Torches framed the entryway, but there wasn’t even the slightest shift in temperature for their presence.

The ground began to shift and groan as the doors opened unaided, beckoning him inside.

Reborn strode forward without hesitation, showing no weakness. The Vindice were not the nameless abominations he had once known them to be, after all. They were the phantoms of a grisly could-have-been, should-have been. A dark fate that Tsuna and his allies had bailed the Seven out of.

The doors shut heavy and final behind him, shutting out the shrill screams of mountain wind. His footsteps echoed against the cavernous halls, torches lighting before him to guide him deeper and deeper into the belly of the Vindice’s beast. He descended further into the darkness, far enough that he could no longer hear the howl of the perpetual snowstorm outside.

At last he was led to a single vast chamber, lit only by an orb of light planted in the center of the room. Within Talbot’s device seven flames whirled like a ribbon, shooting through the warp holes powered by the Flame of Night.

Reborn felt something shift in the darkness around him.

 _The Sun has come to see us._  Whispers seemed to come from multiple voices, layered atop one another and echoing from everywhere and nowhere. _Has he lost something?_

Formless laughter echoed and bounced off the shadows.

 _Oh but you have, haven’t you? Baldur_ _‘so fair of feature, and so bright the light shines from him.’_ They purred their words like a poem into Reborn’s ear. _You’ve misplaced your Cloud._

 _How bold, to descend into the underworld to find him,_ they hissed gleefully. _But your god of beauty isn’t here, Strongest of the Seven._

“... I didn’t expect him to be here,” Reborn said coolly. “I only hoped you’d know where I can find him.”

_Hope has no place here._

_And neither do you, Arcobaleno._

“Here I thought we were all Arcobaleno.”

The darkness seemed to quake.

 _Our flames ran black long ago,_ the Vindice growled.

“There’s no reason we can’t be civil now.”

The shadows suddenly drew back just enough to spit out a small, bandaged figure.

“Reborn.”

“Bermuda.”

“Coming here was presumptuous. You don’t fear us as you once did,” Bermuda observed. “Foolish of you. We are as we have ever been, and you are not the world’s strongest to us.”

“Understood. These are desperate times, of course.”

“You don’t know desperate. But yes, I’ve heard,” Bermuda’s neck ticked, unnatural and spasmic. “Dearest Skull. You know, _I_ had a Cloud once. But even she did not burn half as bright as yours.”

There was something wistful in the Vindice’s voice, and for the first time Reborn found himself wondering what Bermuda’s original flame had been.

“If she had, perhaps she would have survived.”

_So few of us survived._

_The unlucky ones._

“We gave you a great gift you know,” Bermuda continued. “By our tending of the lantern, you and your bondmates are freed of the curse. A lifetime with your harmony. Do you know what that is worth?”

The shadows churned angrily.

_Do you know what we would give?_

_Do you know how precious?_

The temperature, impossibly, dropped another several degrees. Reborn could feel the steam drifting off his skin, flames still working to generate heat.

_Well look at you._

_It has been_ so _long since we felt sunlight._

_Healed anyone lately, have you?_

The last phrase was whispered mockingly, bitterly. Reborn was not a typical Sun; he kept his flames close. Couldn’t even remember the last time he allowed them to be absorbed into someone else.

Skull was the first person to taste his flames in a long time.

“You’re not going to tell me where he is.”

“Take comfort in knowing you still have a Cloud out there to find,” Bermuda said wryly, the shadows swallowing him up once more. “Although I do hope you do, eventually.”

_At least one iteration of the Arcobaleno deserves a happy ending._

_Even if_ you _don’t._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the patience everyone! The last month was hectic. The next chapter is either going to be very long, or I'll have to split it. Hopefully not, 8 has a better ring to it.  
> And this is an aside, but I always found it funny that Bermuda calls Skull (and only Skull iirc) by the _-kun_ honorific, which is used almost exclusively on young boys. It’s a slight step up from _-chan_ , but is potentially too cutesy/infantilizing (esp if you don't personally know each other), and Bermuda does it whilst harpooning Skull through the head. It’s just a weird juxtaposition that maybe I’m reading into, but it seems to indicate a bit about how Skull is regarded.


End file.
